The best CS2 player: Skill, trophies, rating, and more

With a tournament almost every week, the title of best CS2 player can fluctuate between several big names. Everything from map performance and rating to how many trophies a player has lifted needs to be taken into account.

We've analyzed the data and have come up with a name or two that best represents the best CS2 player title. Here's a look at who's on top right now!

Reigning HLTV Top 20 winner Danil "donk" Kryshkovets is widely regarded as the top pro CS2 player currently. He was a major contributor to Team Spirit's victory at the Perfect World Shanghai Major, and often tops the rating charts at big tournaments.

Donk bucks the trend of AWPers dominating the charts in Counter-Strike, with Spirit running basing their entire strategy around the superstar to ensure he can make the best play.

Donk's accomplishments in 2025 include:

The highest-rated CS2 pro player currently is Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut. An argument can be made for the three-time HLTV top 20 winner as the best in the game right now after a hot start to 2025 which includes victories at IEM Katowice, EPL, and BLAST Open Spring.

Given Vitality is the current number one team, and ZywOo is the top-rated player in CS2, he most certainly belongs in a top list. Here's a look at the current top 20 rated players in 2025 at big events:

There are several ways we can measure a pro player's individual skill level. Sites like HLTV contain an abundance of stats measuring round-by-round impact, clutch win percentage, round win participation, and more. Over the years, the HLTV rating combines these stats into a single number, giving fans an idea about who was the highest-performing player during a match or event.

A single HLTV rating isn't always enough to measure a player's skill, however. Those playing certain roles, such as the in-game leader, will have less of an individual performance and thus are skewed against in the HLTV rating.

Another factor to consider is tournament wins. Multiple event wins in a short timeframe generally sees a team rise both in Valve's official ranking as well as how the team lands in the public eye. The best individual player is generally found on the top team — but there have been cases in the past of a player from a losing team standing above all others.

At the end of the year, award shows hand out a best player prize. This ranking is often the one used by fans for gauging the best player over the course of a year. Most tend to side with HLTV's top 20 ranking and whoever lands the top spot.

Here's a list of past winners of the HLTV top 20:

That's all for now! Stay tuned to esports.gg for more CS2 news and guides.