Sep 10, 2018

A clear characterisation in CS:GO can go along way to making a professional player stand-out in the communities eye. From ScreaM and his flashy taps, to s1mple and his volatile, confident AWPing, to Xyp9x with an omniscient sense of the map and clutch scenarios, these dot-points are instantly latched onto by fans. It also helps when their out-of-game personalities match their in-game tendencies. S1mple plays brash and aggressively, and older interviews leave no illusions as to how this manifested in his past roster’s communication. Xyp9x moves calmly, patiently and carefully in 1vX scenarios, and remains a cold, unassuming and reserved character on-stage.

When there’s an accurate frame to around a players game, there’s an easy window for fans to step through. If you hear a certain player plays ‘this’ unique way, and then observe a pattern of them playing ‘that’ way, you suddenly feel as though you’ve got ‘the’ insight. CS:GO is not an easy game at a micro, player-to-player level to conceptualise in-game patterns clearly, so finding them, especially if you’re newer to the game, is a big deal. It’s one of the reasons, in my opinion, a side like SK in 2017 is so easy to support. Fer and felps are aggressive and entry. FalleN is the veteran leader and AWPer. TACO is the support. Coldzera is the superstar and clutcher. Is this way of characterising SK at the time incredibly regressive? Yes. Is it totally incorrect? No. If you watch their games with this very basic framework in-mind, you can get familiar with each players role, and become a fan based on their unique position in the team. Whether it’s by virtue of region (and no English), relatively poor placings internationally, or lack of attention more generally, it’s very surprising to me that of all players Tyloo rifler somebody, in this sense, doesn’t attract fans*.

Somebody is, out of all the professional players I’ve observed in CS, one of the most unique. It’s ironic his name is ‘somebody’ given he doesn’t play like anybody else. If Tyloo were to, outside of their tri-language comms, have a uniquely Eastern feel to their game, it would stem from Somebody’s approach. On-paper, he is the entry-fragger alongside Mo on T-side, and a rotator/forward dueller on CT-side. We see him often lead the charge for CT aggression around top mid on Mirage, water on Overpass, banana on Inferno or mid on Cache, while playing close set-ups outer on Train. He looks for fast-flanks often on CT-side from these positions or to brute force positions with his great first-bullet aim and incredibly confident strafing. But these on-paper characteristics don’t really get at what comes to the heart of Somebody’s game.

Somebody is one of the most unreasonable players in CS:GO. His decision making is reckless, but in a way that catches off most elite players enough that it’s justified. He’ll push smokes and mollies without second thought. His internal clock ticks at a different rhythm to every other European rifler. Somebody has an uncanny ability to sense the space in a duel or an execute, and whether or not he is able to exploit that with a tight headshot is secondary for to his ability to find it in the first place. He doesn’t adhere to the standard protocols of movement or positioning around maps. He plays his own game, hits his own timings and finds duels as Tyloo’s entry and CT pressure player like no one else. It’s like the beginner beating the veteran by surprise. The veteran has a built-up model of what he expects will happen based on what he thinks is ‘right’, and the beginner, not knowing what to expect will do something ‘wrong’ and will catch the veteran out. Except somebody isn’t a beginner. He’s been around long enough to be self-aware of his effect on teams more established than his. Somebody is consistently like this, and has been for years, albeit now it’s with more confidence and at an amplified level with the space he buys actually being utilised by Xccurate and BnTeT in late-rounds. It’s tilting because if your his opponent you know what he’s going to do, but because his power exists in the pressures of timing, he can always punish internalised processes.