🎮GOAT Rankings

Oleksandr Kostyliev, known as s1mple, is the most acclaimed Counter-Strike player in history, a hybrid rifler and AWPer whose individual skill ceiling redefined what was possible. Playing for Natus Vincere, he was named the HLTV number-one player of the year in 2018 and again in 2021, and holds the record for the most HLTV MVP medals of any player. His crowning team achievement came at the PGL Major Stockholm 2021, where he led Na'Vi to their first Major title and was named the event's most valuable player after a dominant run. For years he was the benchmark against whom every other player was measured, capable of single-handedly winning rounds that seemed lost. Even as CS transitioned to CS2, his peak remains the standard for individual brilliance in the tactical-shooter genre, and his highlight reel is the most celebrated in the game.

Johan Sundstein, captain and support known as N0tail, is the most successful figure in Dota 2 history and long held the record for the highest career prize earnings in all of esports, above $7M. As the leader and co-founder of OG, he did what no one had before: won back-to-back Internationals, at TI8 in 2018 and TI9 in 2019, the only captain to hoist the Aegis of Champions twice consecutively. The 2018 run was a fairytale, a reshuffled underdog roster toppling the favorites, and it made OG a legend of the game. A converted Heroes of Newerth pro, he was celebrated less for raw mechanics than for leadership, positivity and the ability to bind a team into a champion. His trophy haul and earnings, built on the sport's largest prize pools, place him at the very top of Dota's pantheon.

Lee Young-ho, nicknamed Flash and 'The Ultimate Weapon,' is regarded by many as the greatest StarCraft: Brood War player ever, the peak of the sport's foundational era. A Terran famed for mechanical perfection and an almost unbeatable macro game, he dominated Korean professional leagues at their most competitive, winning multiple OSL and MSL individual championships and earning the Golden Mouse awarded for three Starleague titles. In 2010 he achieved the rare Grand Slam of the era, holding several major individual crowns simultaneously, and posted a career win rate that stood among the highest in the game's history. Brood War was played before large international prize pools, so his tracked earnings understate his stature; within Korea he was a national sporting figure. When the scene transitioned to StarCraft II, he continued to compete, but his Brood War peak remains a byword for total dominance of a discipline.

Daigo Umehara, 'The Beast,' is the most iconic figure in fighting-game history and the closest thing the genre has to a living legend. His full-parry comeback against Justin Wong in Street Fighter III: Third Strike at Evo 2004, universally known as EVO Moment 37, is the single most famous clip in esports. Across a career spanning arcades to the streaming age, he won multiple EVO championships in different Street Fighter titles and remained an elite competitor for over two decades, longevity unmatched in any esport. In 2018 he was recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest-serving professional fighting-game player. His prize earnings are modest because fighting games run small pools compared with team esports, but his cultural impact is immense: he embodies the reading, mind-games and clutch execution at the heart of the genre and inspired a generation of players worldwide.

Nicolai Reedtz, the AWPer known as device, was the anchor of Astralis, the most dominant team in Counter-Strike history. He won four Majors, ELEAGUE Atlanta 2017, FACEIT London 2018, IEM Katowice 2019 and StarLadder Berlin 2019, a total matched by no one before his generation, and captured the first Intel Grand Slam during a period when Astralis simply dwarfed the field. Astride a disciplined, utility-driven system, device was the consistent star sniper who converted his team's structural edge into rounds, ranking among the world's top players year after year without ever chasing the flashiest highlight. Where s1mple represented individual genius, device represented ruthless team-built excellence, and the two defined opposite poles of the same era. His four Majors and sustained top-tier consistency make him one of the most decorated shooter players ever and the emblem of Counter-Strike's greatest dynasty.

Marcelo David, known as coldzera, was the world's best Counter-Strike player at the height of Brazil's golden generation. Playing for Luminosity and then SK Gaming alongside FalleN and fer, he won consecutive Majors in 2016, MLG Columbus and ESL One Cologne, and was named the HLTV number-one player of the year in both 2016 and 2017, back-to-back seasons of individual supremacy. His jumping, no-scope quad kill against Team Liquid at MLG Columbus 2016 was voted the play of the year and remains one of the most replayed moments in CS. A cerebral, positionally brilliant rifler, he made the game look easy during a peak few have matched. Later roster moves diluted his form, but for two years he was untouchable, and his double HLTV crown and two Majors secure his place among the very best the shooter has produced.

Kuro Takhasomi, the German-Iranian captain and support known as KuroKy, is one of Dota 2's most enduring and decorated figures. He reached three Grand Finals of The International across his career, finishing runner-up with Natus Vincere in the early years before finally lifting the Aegis as captain of Team Liquid at TI7 in 2017, one of the most complete tournament runs in the game's history. Renowned for his strategic mind and encyclopedic hero knowledge, he holds the record for the most professional Dota 2 matches ever played, a testament to a longevity almost unheard of in esports. His career earnings, above $5M, rank among the highest in the sport thanks to Dota's enormous prize pools. As both a champion and a symbol of the game's competitive depth, KuroKy occupies a revered place in Dota's history.

Lim Yo-hwan, 'The Emperor,' was the first true superstar of esports and the player who made professional gaming a mainstream phenomenon in South Korea. A StarCraft: Brood War Terran celebrated for creative, aggressive micro that rewrote how the race was played, he won back-to-back OSL championships in 2000 and 2001 and took gold at the World Cyber Games in 2001 and 2002. His fame transcended the game: his fan club numbered in the hundreds of thousands, believed the largest for any esports figure of his time, and he drew stadium crowds and mainstream media in an era when the idea of a pro gamer was still novel. Though later players surpassed his raw results, BoxeR's cultural impact is unmatched, he proved a video game could produce a national sporting icon, and the entire professional scene that followed was built in the space he opened.

Joona Sotala, the Finnish Zerg known as Serral, is the greatest non-Korean StarCraft II player and the man who broke Korea's monopoly on the game's world title. In 2018 he swept an undefeated run through the WCS Circuit and won the WCS Global Finals at BlizzCon, becoming the first player from outside South Korea to be crowned StarCraft II world champion, a landmark result that reshaped the game's competitive geography. He backed it up with sustained dominance of the Western scene across the ESL Pro Tour era, amassing dozens of premier titles and remaining a top contender for years. His mechanical precision and macro control drew comparisons with the Korean elite he outperformed. In a discipline long defined by Korean supremacy, Serral's 2018 world title stands as one of the most significant individual achievements in esports and made him a national sporting figure in Finland.

Anathan Pham, the Australian carry known as ana, was the young star at the heart of OG's back-to-back Internationals, winning TI8 in 2018 and TI9 in 2019 alongside N0tail. Still a teenager for his first title, he was the mechanical engine of the underdog run that stunned the Dota world, famed for game-defining performances on signature heroes like Io, Ember Spirit and Spectre in the sport's biggest finals. Two Aegis wins on the largest stage, with prize earnings around $6M placing him among the top earners in all of esports, mark an extraordinarily concentrated peak. He stepped away from competition at a young age, but his impact is disproportionate to his short career: he proved that a carry could carry, quite literally, two world titles, and his highlight plays remain among the most celebrated in Dota 2 history.

Jian Zi-Hao, the marksman known as Uzi, was the greatest League of Legends ADC of his generation and the face of Chinese esports for the better part of a decade. He burst onto the world stage as a teenager, reaching the Worlds final in both 2013 and 2014, and became renowned for a hyper-aggressive carry style that let him single-handedly win games. His long-awaited breakthrough came in 2018, when he won the Mid-Season Invitational with Royal Never Give Up and took gold as part of China's team at the Asian Games. The one prize that always eluded him was the World Championship, a defining absence in an otherwise legendary career. Chronic injury and health problems forced his retirement in 2020 at just 23. Beloved across China and respected worldwide, Uzi remains the standard against which aspiring bot-lane carries are measured.