There are superstars of esports wherever you look at IEM Katowice 2019, with s1mple and coldzera just strolling around a venue that also houses Astralis, Team Liquid and every name FaZe could afford, but CSGO has so much more.

The strength of the esport is such that today, you can build a team of extremely good players from those men who aren’t even at the tournament, and currently don’t have a team. Admittedly, it would be a pretty fractious and confusing affair, but we still wanted to see the best five names available, and wonder if there is a coach in the world capable of harnessing their powers for good, rather than evil mediocrity…

chrisJ

The leader of mousesports, and face of the franchise for some time, was benched following their disastrous run at the Minor. Weirdly, though, much of the blame for that failure seemed to pass the Dutchman by, with some suggesting he should be rewarded for his inability to beat tier-3 EU sides with a move to FaZe Clan, which doesn’t make a lot of sense. We know what he can do with guns, but we also saw Chris run the likes of ropz and to some extent suNny into the ground at mouz, and his reputation needs a little buff.

ScreaM

"Have you heard the word of the one-tap", ScreaM asks as he goes door to door, from org to org, seeking a new home and team to play for. It’s actually a bit crazy to think how dramatic his decline has been, from lighting up the European scene with shox at his side to becoming essentially a nomad of the game. His most recent outings include a sub role for Fnatic and playing alongside DoCc at an extremely dodgy event in the middle east, and a recent ice-skating injury isn’t going to make his path back to the bigs any smoother, although he has at least found some friends to try and get an org with.

STYKO

When Chris was moved to the bench at mouz, he at least was given some company to compare spliters, or maybe complain about those annoying kids to in the shape of STYKO. Kicked once by Mousesports, STYKO made his return to the team in the post-Snax period, but could not find the magic that accompanied them a year or so ago, when they were so dominant on Mirage, and top five in the world. An accomplished support, STYKO should have a lot of offers, but probably doesn’t due to the nature of CS.

smooya

When smooya dropped himself from the BIG Clan starting five, opinions were divided, with some folk believing the team would be better off without him and others convinced they would lack firepower to a catastrophic degree. Their showing in Katowice suggested that, in the server at least, this has not been an immediate upgrade, and smooya probably looks the better for not appearing at that event. He’ll play for another top-20 team providing nothing crazy goes on, but there is a long way to go for Mr Butterfield to become a truly top performer.

pashaBiceps

For years, Papa Biceps was part of the incredibly well-paid Virtus.pro organisation, and played on the biggest stages with legends like TaZ and Neo. When that all fell apart, he decided to have a little bash at streaming while waiting for offers in the post-Major shuffle, and has accidentally become a phenomenal success due to a winning personality and great sense of self-deprecating humour. Of everyone on this list, pasha has most to gain from not coming back to the scene, but the hunger still burns in him, or so it would seem.