Who will be the best player of the year? There are three options

The CS season is winding down – only IEM Dallas and BLAST Premier Spring Final remain from the major tournaments. Already, a clear trio of players is emerging, vying for the top spot at the year's end: Donk, Zywoo, and M0nesy. Who among them has the edge at the moment? Let's break it down.

Donk leads the pack, but there's one problem

Currently, Donk confidently leads in all parameters: Cyber Rating – 1.25, two MVP awards, and a victory at IEM Katowice. The rating performance solely at major tournaments is also noteworthy – 1.28. However, there's a small snag: Spirit has only competed in two elite events – in Katowice and at the Major – playing just 20 maps there, making the sample size quite limited. Fortunately, Spirit has a packed schedule, and it will participate in almost all significant tournaments, allowing Danil to showcase his skills over a longer distance.

Zywoo is chasing Donk but still lacks trophies

Zywoo could easily make this year the best of his career as he started strongly – at 1.22. His performance in major tournaments is also respectable – with a rating of 1.19. However, team victories have been lacking so far: Vitality stumbled at IEM Katowice, made it to the semifinals of the Major in Copenhagen, and reached the final of EPL S19 – where Zywoo received the MVP award, his first accolade of the year.

M0nesy plays more than anyone else but has the least chances

M0nesy is slightly behind his competitors – with a rating of 1.20 (1.19 in major tournaments). But this can be easily explained: he has played much more than them (74 maps compared to 50 for Donk and 49 for Zywoo), and his teammates don't assist him as frequently. Moreover, G2 is much less structured and stable as a team compared to Vitality, and especially Spirit.

G2's results are disappointing: they haven't reached the finals in four tournaments, at most making it to the semifinals. Consequently, Ilya hasn't earned any MVP awards, which is an important argument in the race for the title of the best player in the world. So, G2 needs to win urgently – but that's hard to believe.

What about Mouz? They're the top team in the world after all

Mouz has reached the finals three times in a row, winning two of them and claiming the top spot in the rankings for the first time in history. But there isn't one person carrying the team forward. Yes, Xertion has seriously improved, Torzsi has found stability, and Jimpphat is incredibly good too, but that's the thing about Mouz – it's hard to single out a star player. Therefore, it's difficult for them to compete for individual awards.

Currently, the best player in Mouz is Torzsi with a rating of 1.12. He's very far from the trio fighting for the top spot, so he's not their competitor. And it will also be difficult to change anything in the remaining tournaments of the year – the gap is too significant.

Overall, there's very little chance that anyone will compete with Zywoo, M0nesy, and Donk. Currently, the interim leader of the race is Donk. He's more stable than Ilya and Matvey both in individual and team statistics (Spirit has only lost three games offline this year).