Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund is the Player of the Year on our Top 20 players of 2014 ranking presented by Xtrfy! He was the most impressive player when the most was on the line - in the majors and in the big matches - helping NiP win three titles with MVP-worthy performances in each final, including the biggest one, ESL One Cologne.

Ever since he joined fnatic back in 2009, Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund has been one of the best players in the world. That streak started when he was named Best CS player of the Year 2009 by Turtle Entertainment, and continued after our Top 20 ranking came into existence.

He was ranked 2nd in two editions of our ranking, back in 2010 with fnatic and 2011 with SK. After the switch to CS:GO and the creation of NiP he climbed to the first place in 2013 with one of the most dominant year-long performances anyone ever had.

Near the end of 2013, however, his own and NiP's form dropped off slightly as the competition got tougher, so his status of the best player in the world was starting to be questioned with Richard "⁠shox⁠" Papillon rising up the ranks with VeryGames on the other side.

Ninjas in Pyjamas entered 2014 with a lot to prove as they had been without a title for four months, including a devastating loss in the grand final of the first ever $250,000 event, DreamHack Winter.

They managed to get revenge against fnatic at the first event of the year, DreamHack Stockholm Invitational in February, but ex-VeryGames who were now named Titan beat the Ninjas two times and snatched the first, albeit minor title.

GeT_RiGhT was by far NiP's best player with a 1.25 rating, having played well on all maps, and especially the lower bracket final against dignitas (26:7, 2.10 rating, VOD).

A month later the first major of the year arrived, EMS One Katowice, and NiP were still one of the main favorites to win it.

Led by GeT_RiGhT's superb play in the group stage, with Man of the Match performances against 3DMAX (25:5, 1.98 rating, VOD) and LDLC (28:10, 2.01 rating, 7 assists, 5 entry kills, VOD), Ninjas made it to the playoffs.

compLexity awaited them in the quarter-final, and the North Americans even managed to take the first map. Nevertheless, powered by great play from GeT_RiGhT and big help from Robin "⁠Fifflaren⁠" Johansson on the third map, NiP made it to the semis, while he ended up as best in the series with a 74:44 score (1.45 rating, 12 entry kills, map 2 POV).

He wasn't as impactful in the semi-final against dignitas, but still managed to contribute in the most rounds (81%) with a kill, assist or surviving (or in 31 of 32 rounds won), and went into the final as the best rated player of the tournament overall (1.52 rating).



The great atomsphere at the Katowice stage didn't favor the Ninjas

The Ninjas hoped to redeem themselves for the DH Winter loss, but Virtus.pro in front of their home crowd was far too strong that time. GeT_RiGhT, just like the rest of the team, failed to make any impact and ended the big match with 0.55 kills per round as they lost 9-16 and 10-16.

Nevertheless, he was by far NiP's best player of the campaign, ending up with a 1.33 rating (2nd of the event) and contributing in 72% of their rounds (or 91.3% of round wins).

Despite the final loss, the Ninjas had reclaimed the number one spot in the world according to our April ranking thanks to Titan's group stage exit.

A month after Katowice, they attended Copenhagen Games where almost all top teams were ready to challenge them.

GeT_RiGhT was quiet in the opening rounds against ENCE and Reason, contributing but not dominating, but then as they met dignitas in the semi-final again he stepped up and took matters into his own hands.

With 36:18 on the first map (1.59 rating, 6 assists, POV) he led the Ninjas to an overtime win 19-15, and later ended up as the best player of the series with 56:36 (1.38 rating).

Then they met Virtus.pro again in the grand final and no one was hungrier for revenge than GeT_RiGhT. But despite his great play (26:17, 1.29 rating, POV), they lost the first map and were on the way to another disappointing finish.

But GeT_RiGhT continued pushing his team forward, and with two more superb performances he helped them come back and win the final. He put up a 23:11 score on the second map (1.62 rating, 5 assists) to tie the series, and then added a Man of the Match display in the 16-13 decider (28:18, 1.38 rating, POV), pushing NiP to win their first title of 2014.

GeT_RiGhT's POV vs. Virtus.pro on map 3 of Cph Games grand final

He ended up contributing in 95.5% of NiP's round wins in the final (42 of 44) with a 77:46 overall score (1.42 rating), which cemented him as the MVP of the entire tournament as outlined in our Cph Games: Top players article.

But then at SLTV StarSeries IX Finals he just wasn't on the same level, recording his first and only below average tournament rating in CS:GO career, albeit just slightly (0.96).

NiP once again finished in 2nd place, but actually not due to GeT_RiGhT's play as he was the only one playing above average in both the opening loss to Na`Vi and the grand final against them. His underperformances came in the wins over Virtus.pro and Titan, but he still ended up contributing in an above average amount of rounds overall (64%).

They were back to winning ways at DreamHack Summer, and even though Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg was the MVP this time, GeT_RiGhT had a lot to say in the matter.

After a Man of the Match performance in the opening match against Germans Berzerk (27:16, 1.45 rating, POV), he was second best to f0rest in the quarter-final against Titan.

Adam "⁠friberg⁠" Friberg ran the show in the semi-final against HellRaisers, but GeT_RiGhT was still close behind in the maps they won, especially the third one where he had one of his highlights of the year:

4K with 1vs2 clutch against HellRaisers in the semi-final of DH Summer

And then in the grand final GeT_RiGhT stepped up and put in a Man of the Match performance against Natus Vincere, especially shining on the second map that came down to a 19-16 overtime win (36:20, 1.42 rating, 6 entry kills, POV).

He ended up contributing in 91.4% of the rounds NiP won in the Na`Vi match (32 of 35) and was once again the best in the big clash when it was needed the most – top fragging in the series with a 53:30 score (1.38 rating).

Although he finished second in the team with a 1.11 rating, he was still one of the very best players of the tournament, for the fourth time in five events.



DreamHack Summer champions for the second year in a row

But after the solid start to the year which saw them make it to every final, at ESEA Invite Season 16 Global Finals the Ninjas for the first time in their history failed to even enter the top four.

GeT_RiGhT had a mediocre performance overall, starting with a poor display in the loss to compLexity. He recovered in the lower bracket win over Manajuma (41:26, 1.26 rating), and then had a seemingly good display in the loss to Virtus.pro, ending up as the top rated player thanks to his performance in the map they won (33:15, 1.86 rating, 7 assists, VOD) despite the 1-2 loss.

However, he disappointed in the last map of that series by scoring a kill in only 8 of 24 rounds, which left a sour aftertaste to his performance.

He was NiP's best player in the rounds they won in the tournament, once again contributing in well above average 90.5% of them, so it was a mixed display in the end as his 1.11 rating was third in the team.

After that the Ninjas went on a summer break and returned just in time to take part in the next big event, Gfinity 3.

But there they just provided more of the same, struggling in the group stage and making it out ahead of Epsilon only due to non-standard rules, and then losing convincingly to dignitas in the quarter-final.

GeT_RiGhT was by far the team's best player in the group stage, top rated in four of their five maps including both of the wins. However, just like most of the team he couldn't handle the hot dignitas in the playoffs.

In the end he was the only one with an above average rating in the team (1.05) and was again the one who contributed the most in their round wins.



Time to win a major

It was a worrying performance before ESL One Cologne, but GeT_RiGhT wasn't concerned and he said in our pre-event interview that it's "time to win a major".

And indeed that time had come, even though Ninjas didn't look convincing in the group stage. They barely made it through over HellRaisers and after losing to Epsilon, mainly thanks to friberg's performances, whereas GeT_RiGhT was nowhere to be found.

But then he more than resurfaced during the playoffs, starting with the clash against Cloud9. The Ninjas once again lost the first map against the North Americans, just like at the first major, and GeT_RiGhT took matters into his own hands, putting in a Man of the Match performance on the deciding map which they won 16-14 (31:19 score, 1.49 rating, VOD).

In the LDLC semi-final he wasn't the best, but he was still one of the main contributors, getting a kill or assist in 81% of round wins, while the Ninjas again clinched the win with a 16-14 score on the third map.

Then it came down to their third major final, and GeT_RiGhT wasn't going to let this one slip away.

As the Man of the Match of both first and the second map, he helped the team secure the biggest triumph of their careers while ending as the top rated player of yet another final (71:54, 1.25 rating).

He put up 32:16 on the first map Cobblestone (1.62 rating, POV) and then 28:17 on the Inferno decider which they won 16-13 (1.49 rating, 1vs3 clutch, POV).

Due to the group stage performance he ended up with a 1.06 rating, second best behind friberg, but if we look at only the playoffs, a different picture is painted.

In those three very close series GeT_RiGhT was by far the best in NiP with a 1.16 rating and the most impactful one in their round wins, especially in the grand final.



GeT_RiGhT after the ESL One Cologne final

With that performance he established himself as the best player in the world after the first eight months of the year, and NiP confirmed their number one status despite a couple of bad results previously.

However, when September came and their next event DreamHack Stockholm, they hit a new low in their CS:GO careers, failing to make it out of the group courtesy of the freshly formed LDLC and Titan lineups.

Still, GeT_RiGhT was again the team's best rated player (1.09) thanks to a Man of the Match performance in their only win against ALTERNATE (26:11, 1.59 rating), as well as to being the only one with an above average rating in the 13-16 loss to Titan.

They had over a month to prepare for their next challenge at ESWC due to missing out on the FACEIT League Season 2 Finals, but the time didn't help.

Once again they were knocked out in the group stage, despite a solid start with wins over KaBuM and Cph Wolves. Three losses followed, including one to a lesser known side Platinium, as well as to HellRaisers and Titan, so NiP finished the event in their lowest ever 13th-16th place.



Packing up early at ESWC

But GeT_RiGhT was yet again the team's highest rated player (1.06) and one of only two above average together with f0rest. He played great in both wins, and put up a solid fight in the other matches, albeit not so much against Titan as they lost 1-16.

That tournament was the breaking point for the team, and Fifflaren was the one to draw the first move by announcing his retirement. After a few days of searching for a replacement, the Ninjas added Mikail "⁠Maikelele⁠" Bill and started preparing for the last major of the year, DreamHack Winter.

But even with the new lineup they started shaky in the group stage, losing to LDLC and having a lot of trouble to make it past ESC.

Eventually they did beat the young Polish squad 16-13, while GeT_RiGhT was the Man of the Match of that clash with a 28:20 score (1.38 rating, VOD). He also played well in the Planetkey win, but was mediocre in the LDLC loss.

As usual he stepped up in the playoffs, and although his teammate f0rest was definitely the best of the HellRaisers quarter-final, GeT_RiGhT was second with a 38:17 score in the series (1.51 rating).

He wasn't the most impactful in the Virtus.pro semi-final either, but he was again one of the main contributors - involved in 92% of NiP's round wins, especially thanks to his 3rd map performance (24:15, 1.38 rating, contributed in all 16 round wins).



NiP with the second place cheque again

The Ninjas actually made it to their fourth major grand final, but with a great chance to grab their second win, they let a 15-13 lead on the third map slip away, ending up in another 2nd place.

GeT_RiGhT was solid in this series as well, albeit not explosive apart from the second map, as he finished the final with a 1.04 rating.

Overall he was second best in the team throughout the tournament with a 1.12 rating, while f0rest was their most influential player on this occasion. But in spite of not being as impactful as in the previous two majors, he added another very good performance to his resume.

That was the last tournament of the year for NiP, who announced they will be signing their newest addition Maikelele on a permanent basis.

Why is he the best player of 2014?

Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund was the player who played the best at the biggest stages, contributing to each triumph of his team throughout 2014 as either the MVP, or the best player of the final. He was one of the best big match players, and he especially shined during the playoffs of all three majors, in which he helped NiP reach the final every time and win it all at ESL One Cologne.

He was the Man of the Match in all three finals that NiP won – at Copenhagen Games, DreamHack Summer and ESL One Cologne, while also being the undisputed MVP of the Danish event.

In addition to that he was one of the best players at both EMS One Katowice where he helped the team reach the final with an MVP-worthy performance, and throughout the playoffs of ESL One Cologne where he displayed the same form.

He was also very solid at the third major, DreamHack Winter, in another 2nd place campaign. In the end he gathered a +125 kill-death difference from the $250,000 tournaments, shared-highest of all players, which speaks to his contribution at the biggest stages.

He particularly stood out in big matches with a 1.11 rating (ranked 3rd), while it's important to note that he played almost half of them at the majors (16 of 33 maps), unlike the two players ranked ahead of him in that regard.

And with that in mind he was the player who contributed most often in the semi-finals and finals throughout the year, getting a kill, assist or surviving in 67.1% of rounds.



The best at the biggest stages

While playing more than one third of his rounds at the majors, he ended up as the 8th best fragger overall with 0.77 kills per round, and had 32 clutch situations won.

Aside from the biggest events, he also played well at practically all of the others he attended, especially Copenhagen Games, DreamHack Summer and DreamHack Stockholm #1. While his team did have dips in form, he was always one of their best players even during the tough times.

And although his own form somewhat dropped off during the second half of the year, he was still the best player in the world for the first 8 months after concluding ESL One Cologne with a spectacular playoff display.

After that even though he missed a few events and didn't shine at DH Stockholm and ESWC, no player managed to outperform what he did before that, and he cemented his place with another solid display at the last major of the year.

In the end it was his performances at the biggest stages during the majors and in big matches that gave him the number one spot, as he was the most impressive player when the most was on the line and was one of the keys to all of NiP's successes throughout the year.

What is your take on Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund's performance in 2014? Do you think he deserves the title of Player of the Year?

Our Introduction article has all the info you need to know about the Top 20 players of 2014 ranking presented by Xtrfy, including the fully updated list.

Follow Christopher "⁠GeT_RiGhT⁠" Alesund on Facebook and Twitter.

Thanks to Norbert "n1u" Manikowski for providing graphical elements for the ranking. Check out his Facebook.