This article is part of our CS:GO series.
BLAST Premier Fall Final is here to cap off the Fall season and starts the closing stages of the 2022 season as a whole. With some of the best teams in the world, and also some regional representatives who should struggle, there's plenty of value to be found throughout the Fall Final. Here's a look at some players to target and fade as teams compete for the final spot at the BLAST Premier World Final.
Players to Target
stavn
stavn has been in flying form of late, making the IEM Rio Major final and producing some world-class showings throughout. While he and Heroic came up short in Brazil they are still among the favorites in the Fall Final, and an opening clash with Ninjas in Pyjamas shouldn't prove overly difficult. stavn might not be the biggest name in this slate, but he offers plenty on the map and can take over entire series in a way few others can.
ropz
ropz and FaZe Clan fell out of the IEM Rio Major in shocking fashion, failing to even make the knockout stage. That said this team still entered as the tournament favorite and have shown an entirely different level when on form. Whether they find form or not is an entirely different question, the one consistent piece of the puzzle has been ropz. Even in this down period for FaZe Clan ropz has a 1.13 rating and a 0.73 kills per round tally, those numbers are simply world class in all formats.
EliGE
EliGE is the greatest player to ever hail from North America and he seems to just keep getting better. The superstar rifler has been leading his Team Liquid side into international relevance throughout his career and is showing no signs of slowing down. EliGE and Liquid have had some mixed form, but with a true superstar core of EliGE, NAF and now YEKINDAR, this is a roster with all of the pieces for a deep run in the Fall Finals. Team Liquid do have a minor concern opening their group stage run against G2, but it's still worth considering EliGE, who has shown impressive consistency in all formats, against all opponents.
Players to Fade
Aleksib
Aleksib is an interesting case - Ninjas in Pyjamas have majorly improved since bringing him on board, but he is almost certainly a major downgrade in firepower. The in-game leader has done a lot to keep this roster improving and trending upwards, but his individual numbers are unusable in all fantasy formats. Aleksib and NiP open the Fall Finals against Heroic, a wildly difficult match and one that keeps Aleksib out of major fantasy contention. That said NiP have more than enough firepower to put a run together. Fade Aleksib, but consider NiP as a whole, especially in later rounds.
nexa
OG are certainly the weakest European team in the Fall Finals and it's hard to target much on this team. nexa in particular falls out of fantasy contention with his role in tough spots on OG that provides plenty of value to the team, but leaves him lacking in fantasy. nexa has just a 1.01 rating in the past three months, even including some of the more favorable events OG have participated in. OG open their tournament against FaZe Clan, who just two weeks ago topped the world rankings. nexa and co. could bounce back in the lower bracket, but it's hard to trust this roster and nexa in particular.
HooXi
HooXi might have plenty of jokes around his play, but for fantasy managers the only laughable thing about HooXi is considering him in any lineup. The in-game leader is likely the single worst individual player in the top tier of CS:GO. His individual stats generally hover around where we would expect a coach, who is standing in, to perform. In reality that is what HooXi is, a coach on the server. That could work for G2 (though it certainly didn't at the major), but it still doesn't make HooXi worth targeting in any formats. HooXi is very rarely good for a 0.9 rating, let alone anything higher and an opening match against Team Liquid immediately removes him from all fantasy conversations.
Stats courtesy of HLTV.org
