HLTV Top 20 Players of 2021: YEKINDAR #8

Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis was ranked 8th on HLTV.org’s list of the Top players in 2021. He became the second Virtus.pro player to reach the top position, following Dzhami “Jame” Ali.

Last year, the Latvian assisted his team in winning cs summit 7 and placing in the top four in major international tournaments such as IEM Katowice 2021 and IEM Winter 2021. He was also named four times as an EVP (Extremely Valuable Player).

Why was YEKINDAR the 8th best player of 2021?

YEKINDAR was one of the most influential players on the server in 2021, earning him a position in our Top 20 because of his strong floor and consistency. His greatest strength was his unwavering aggression and ability to start rounds; he was tied for first in opening kills per round (0.18), and his 53 percent success rate in those duels earned him a 1.30 opening kill rating, the best of any player.

He was also very good at obtaining multi-kills (18.6% of the time, #10), which combined with the openings and a large number of assists (due to his world-third-best ADR, 84.5), resulted in his amazing 1.36 impact rating, which was the third-highest among all players. Additionally, he was the player with the greatest proportion of unaided kills (86%) and was one of the best fraggers overall (0.74 kills per round).

Perhaps the biggest reason for his aggression is that his contributions were frequently round-winning, with average kills in round wins (1.07, 5th) and average damage in round wins (1.07, 5th) ranking right up there with the top (113.8, 2nd). All of these outstanding results were achieved while retaining his performance in Big events (1.14 rating, #9) and doing exceptionally well in Big matches (1.11 rating on 36 maps, #10).

I don’t think I’m a super aggressive player, I can play different styles, depending on which my team needs me to be. I just like to play like that, it makes the game so much more enjoyable for me. Obviously sometimes that bites me in the ass, but in the end team achievements are the most important thing for me, I’ll be what my team needs me to be.
Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis

On the other side, he didn’t have many high points, with his sole genuinely outstanding performance coming at IEM Katowice, when he finished second in the MVP race. In general, he performed well in Elite tournaments (1.16 rating, #9), with excellent VP performances at the PGL Major, IEM Cologne, and IEM Winter, but his awards resume wasn’t strong enough to compete with the best of 2021.

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