Mauisnake has finalized his Top 20 players of 2025, and the key point is that this list wasn\u2019t made in a last-minute December rush. He\u2019s been maintaining a running list throughout the entire year, then used a final eye test to set a baseline before locking everything in. From there, he went player by player, directly comparing each name to the one above and below, adjusting placements until they felt right \u2014 all with the goal of avoiding classic recency bias.<\/p>\n
His criteria also differs from HLTV\u2019s approach. Mauisnake puts slightly more weight on individual impact, but above all, he values performances at tournaments that actually define a year. In his hierarchy, the Budapest Major mattered the most, followed by IEM Chengdu, then BLAST Rivals Hong Kong, and finally PGL Bucharest. More broadly, he believes not all events are equal, giving Majors, Katowice, and Cologne far more historical and competitive weight than strong showings at lower-impact events.<\/p>\n
To settle close calls, he leaned heavily on a \u201cprestige test\u201d: big-event ratings, playoff performances, and results against top teams like Vitality, Spirit, and MOUZ. Crucially, he also penalizes failures, not just rewards peaks \u2014 weak showings on the biggest stages actively hurt a player\u2019s ranking. The result is a very personal, opinionated list that often goes against hype, favoring players who delivered when pressure and legacy were actually on the line.<\/p>\n