This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.
No country in the history of competitive Counter-Strike has produced more top players and teams than Sweden. For the first five years of the game's history, Swedish teams were consistently the best in the world and the majority of the major titles ended up in the hands of their finest. The latter half of the 2000s saw elite squads from other European countries rise up and start to pile up major titles, but no country ever came close to the collective success Sweden has managed at the top end of the scene. As such, picking out the best Swedish players of all time is by far the most challenging of all the "Top X" lists one could make.
In making my judgements, I've striven to consider all criteria, from individual skills to success to impact on their teams. Here are the top 15 Swedish Counter-Strike players of all time.
That latter fact ties into his other key strength: playing the smaller sites. At B on inferno and lower inside on train, face was one of the very best in the world as a CT. His ability to hold off multiple enemies at once, either decimating the offensive force or stalling them until his team-mates could rotate over, face's teams knew exactly what they would get from him in those famed positions. Where a player like MJe is still fondly remembered for his small site play, it wasn't until the end of 1.6 that people truly took note of how good face was at playing some of the trickest positions in the game.
Since he played out the latter years of 1.6 alongside f0rest and GeT_RiGhT, it might be misunderstood that face was always a role player in the top teams. In fact, the era before those two ex-Fnatic stars arrived, face was one of the players carrying his team in their numerous top three finishing campaigns. I always used to phrase it that in other teams face's 1vX antics would have been the edge to win his team the game, but in the 2009-2010 SK line-ups it took those clutch round wins just to keep them in games against the top opposition. He might not have gotten much acclaim, but helping his teams win more than $290,000 is more than enough reward for a quietly impressive career.
The closest analogue to ahl in the modern day would probably be fifflaren, consistently criticised by the community and yet with an overflowing trophy cabinet and happy team-mates.
Back at that time, the reason so many top pros shied away from the AWP was because the risk was too high of missing a shot due to nerves or being pressured by the opponent. Hyb was so steady and lethal with the weapon that players would frequently avoid his sites, giving his teams an advantage in an extra sense. The NiP line-up he was a part of in 2001 is still considered by experts to be one of the greatest ever CS teams. The GoL teams he was a part of in 2002 reached back-to-back American CPL finals, with his AWPing being a key reason.
Hyb was the pioneer of the successful dedicated AWPer, always buying that expensive sniper rifle when the opportunity arose. Playing with HeatoN and Potti, whose careers extended far beyond his own in longevity, means he was rarely the player in the spotlight, but Hyb was consistently one of the elite Swedish players for a period of almost two years.
That run as a second star lone would not have been enough to get dsn this high on such a list, the kicker came when Fnatic added GeT_RiGhT and Gux. With more than enough raw firepower coming from the two younger players, dsn was able to successfully transition into a support role. He would still sometimes AWP, but far less frequently, and was able to put more focus in executing the strategy and helping specific team-mates out. Very few former stars have been able to manage such a transition, especially with the kind of success dsn was able to manage.
The real problems that held back walle from being higher on this list are two-fold: his failures in the major tournaments and his refusal of a carry role. Walle played in five major finals, a number of times for the favourite time, and he lost every single one of them. Despite all his top placings and his medium-sized tournament wins, one cannot overlook his tendancy to crumble in the biggest games of his career. When you're deciding amongst the greatest player of all time, that kind of factor is pretty significant.
There's also the matter of walle shying away from being a star. As CS movie fans know, walle had one of the best AWPs the game has ever seen. The problem is that if you were only watching competitive offline games then you'd barely know that. During his time in teams like EYE and NiP he often shied away from being a dedicated AWPer, instead going the safe route of just rifling. When he became an in-game leader it was the ultimate excuse not to AWP. The problem is that his talents with the gun, during his peak, were so good that he should have dedicated himself to the kind of path a player like cogu did.
Now, maybe his nerves couldn't hold offline, in which case the point is moot, but one cannot deny that he never truly committed himself to seeing where his carry potential lay, in that regard. Seven years as a top pro is impressive, as is the sheer number of high placings he took in tournaments, but it's only good enough for 10th on this list.
The problem comes when one looks at the period after that. In 2011 he looked less than convincing as the main star of Lions and Fnatic, not coming close to the levels of his individual performances in 2010 and prior. Then he got a lot of help in 2012, as Fnatic essentially took in a bunch of second star level players. That team's success was impressive, but he hardly stood out as the key reason. All in all, a player with potential that still perhaps went untapped, in part due to his very particular and stubborn style of play. Still, one of the best talents Sweden ever produced, even if he lacked a solid winning carry period to boost him higher up this list.
CArn did have his weaknesses, even if they rarely were exposed, in that with the wrong personnel his approach was significantly less successful, as 2011-2012 showed us. Even so, he put together one of the all-time great careers for an in-game leader. F0rest and GeT_RiGhT still won a lot when they left cArn, but they never won in quite the same way or quite as much.
Even so, Hyper was able to provide some of the only legitimate resistence to the dominant SK.swe line-up of 2003 and eventually reached the top of the mountain in 2004, winning the CPL Summer event without dropping a map, despite using a player who had joined their team as a stand-in only two weeks earlier. Hyper was a gem, even if we never got to admire him for more than about two years.
During the early part of his career, SpawN was a part of line-ups that often choked offline and didn't come close to their online success. Starting in late 2002, he established himself as a legit offline player and when he joined up with SK.swe he was one of the factors in ensuring they continued to be utterly dominant over the CS world. It's key to note, though, that he was playing in a team with names like Potti, HeatoN and elemeNt. That wasn't SpawN hard carrying the team to those titles, he was a second or third star in most games.
In the post-NiP era, he was the man that led SK.swe to back-to-back CPL titles as the best player, without a doubt one of the best in the entire world amongst lead stars at the time. He then had a period in 2006 when he was a second star behind zet's incredible year, so we must apportion credit carefully. Beyond that, he was a top player again and helped SK to some high placings, but never quite at his level from 2005. SpawN has some excellent accomplishments to his name and helped make history numerous times, but he wasn't quite the permanent number one star player for his teams that some fans might mistakenly imagine.
Those who only saw the latter years of his career will underrate him, while those who only remember the early days might overrate him. In his time he was one of the top two or three players in the entire world. In his era he was one of the most successful by a long stretch and his record in CPL tournaments speaks for itself. One of the best players to ever play this game, from any country.
When he first got all his success in 2009, with Fnatic, it was easy for some to suggest that playing with f0rest and Gux could make him look better than he was. 2010 showed how wrong that was, as f0rest dropped off at a point in the year and Gux was gone, leaving GeT_RiGhT to carry the team on his shoulders. In the latter years with SK, 2011 to 2012, GeT_RiGhT was the number one star of those teams and helped lead them to their successes, including the ESWC 2011 title.
Outside of Potti and NEO, no other players have ever truly put together the kind of consistency GeT_RiGhT was able to show, amongst elite players.
Had f0rest and NEO not come along, Potti would still be the best CS player of all time, for my money.
He had his own problems in major finals, in as much as a player of his incredibly high level and having reached so many finals as a favourite should have won more, but he still won a good share of majors. That he won and placed so highly in all other grades of tournaments really shows what an incredible force he was over his long career. It's no coincidence this man is top of the all time money list for players, and by a considerable margin.
Photo credit: fragbite, SK Gaming