According to HLTV.org, Russian Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov has risen to the 5h greatest player in the world in 2021. He was the second member of Gambit Esports to be included in the ranking, following Abay “HObbit” Khasenov.
Ax1Le has helped his squad win six tier-1 titles in the last year. In addition, the 19-year-old collected two MVP awards and seven exceptionally valuable player (EVP) crowns.
Why was Ax1Le the 5th best player of 2021?
Ax1Le was one of the major discoveries of 2021, finishing fifth in our Top 20 players of the year rating because to his outstanding consistency, strong play in Big events, and multiple standout performances. In terms of consistency, he never had a negative tournament, since even figures in his rock-bottom, the PGL Major, are deceivingly low owing to Gambit‘s one-sided semi-final loss. He was always at least somewhat valuable in some fashion, and most of the time he was great, winning seven EVP awards and two MVP titles. He received a 1.00 or better rating in 76 percent of his maps and a 1.30 or higher grade in 38 percent of them (both 5th most frequent). He was one of the most consistent performers and had the highest floor because of his ability to sustain a high level of performance throughout the year.
Also read: HLTV Top 20 Players of 2021: HObbit #6
Ax1Le performed admirably in Big matches with a 1.14 rating (tied for fifth highest), as well as in a variety of statistical categories such as pistol round rating (1.37, #4), multi-kills (18.8 percent, #7), damage per round (81.4, #10), 1vsX situations won (59, #12), and more, resulting in him being one of the year’s most impactful players (1.19 Impact rating, #9).
In 2022 I’m committed to making the Top 5 players of the year, earning at least 3 MVPs, and becoming the No. 1 team. And of course, I want to become better in every way.
Sergey “Ax1Le” Rykhtorov
Because the fight for the top four slots in the ranking was in a league of its own this year, Ax1Le was able to reach as far as he could this year.
