Mauisnake updated his Top 20 players list after IEM Rio 2026, using results from events like ESL Pro League Season 23, BLAST Open Rotterdam, PGL Bucharest, and Rio itself. He explained that recent LAN performances heavily shifted the rankings, with players from teams like Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, and FURIA Esports gaining major ground. He especially highlighted players like KSCERATO, flameZ, and m0NESY as key risers.
One of the biggest talking points was Mauisnake’s belief that Ilya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov may have overtaken Danil ‘donk’ Kryshkovets in the race for the best player of 2026 so far. He argued that m0NESY’s performances against elite opposition were more consistent, while donk had too many quiet games in key matches. He also placed Robin ‘ropz’ Kool surprisingly high, even suggesting ropz could currently be ahead of donk because of his impact, consistency, and value in high-pressure arena matches.
At the top, Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut remained the clear number one in his eyes, with almost flawless performances against top-five opponents. Mauisnake also praised flameZ as the likely second-best player of the year and discussed how players like b1t, HeavyGod, and KSCERATO had quietly built strong cases for higher placements. His final takeaway was that this year’s rankings are far more volatile than usual, with every big LAN capable of completely reshaping the Top 20 conversation.
