This article is part of our CS:GO series.
Players to Target
nicoodoz
nicoodoz has opened 2023 in absolutely excellent form, topping the board in the majority of Fnatic's early matches and consistently finding openings with his AWP. The sniper of Fnatic is a consistent option with plenty of upside on a softer side of the bracket. nicoodoz and Fnatic will be hoping to earn easy qualification into the knockout stage.
NiKo
NiKo has been possibly the best player of the year throughout the opening two months and is showing no signs of doing anything but getting better. It's hard to imagine what better even looks like for NiKo, as he's lead G2 to the IEM Katowice crown and consistently put himself in position to succeed. Individually NiKo is incredible, and he resides on the top team in the world.
sh1ro
sh1ro and Cloud9 have been the disappointments of the year early in 2023, but the talent makes it impossible to bet against sh1ro. This roster is so ridiculously strong on paper it's impossible to call sh1ro anything other than a player to target. The young superstar sniper will likely play G2 in the second round, a wildly tough match, but one that he has the potential to take over.
Players to Fade
HooXi
G2 has been the best team early in 2023, and that is a major boon for HooXi. Still individually the in-game leader has accomplished next to nothing and sits on one of the worst ratings in the Pro League. HooXi is a brilliant mind for the game, but on the server he is a coach and leader, not a fragger.
MAJ3R
MAJ3R and Eternal Fire are in an incredibly tough spot, opening the tournament against G2 before likely taking on C9 or EG. There's simply no way around the fact that this is looking like a tournament that EF would be lucky to win a map in. MAJ3R individually has been nothing to write home about, even in the second tier of Europe, and in a top-tier event like ESL Pro League, he will likely fall by the wayside.
Kabal
IHC was one of the stories of IEM Katowice, but they did it without Kabal, who has long been the weakest individual player on the roster. On one hand it's great that the team has their full strength roster to bring to bear, on the other hand, this team will need to bounce back in a big way to compete with reigning Major champions Outsiders. Kabal simply brings too much risk to the table to be worth early consideration.
Stats courtesy of HLTV.org
