This article is part of our CS:GO series.
The CS:GO player break is over and the teams are back and ready to go for the 2023 season. The opening event is BLAST Premier Spring Groups, featuring some of the top teams in the world clashing for an early spot deeper in the BLAST circuit. Here's a look at some players to target and fade heading into the first matches of 2023.
Players to Target
s1mple
The player named the best of 2022, s1mple, opens the list for 2023. In all honesty I couldn't start anywhere else. The best player in the world is on the slate and he is in flying form. Surrounded by mega talents in every role, s1mple and Na'Vi are poised to get back to their dominant ways heading into 2023. s1mple ended 2022 on a down note, and his slump still had him playing at a top-three level in the world. Simply put there is nobody except ZywOo even in the same realm as s1mple.
m0NESY
m0NESY was the best young player in 2022 and he only seemed to get better as he became more accustomed to the top level. The sniper is already one of the most dangerous players in the world and he ended 2022 with an impressive run in the BLAST Premier Global Finals. m0NESY was already one of the best in the world, and is now looking to compete with s1mple for the very top spot heading into 2023. The only minor concern for m0NESY is opening the tournament against BIG Clan, on paper a reasonable matchup, though BIG Clan have upset big teams with alarming consistency of late.
stavn
stavn has been flirting with world-class form during the early years of his career, but 2022 was a true breakout establishing the Dane as one of the top players in the scene. The rifler will be looking to approach the very top of the rifler rankings, and the BLAST Premier Spring Groups could be the perfect spring board. Heroic was one of the most successful teams of 2022 and open 2023 against an Evil Geniuses side that in all reality shouldn't be too much to deal with. With a great matchup to open the tournament and a world class team, stavn is a target in all formats.
Players to Fade
JT
JT is probably the player that ends up in the Players to Fade category more than anyone else. In theory he sounds great, a rifler with a role on the secondary AWP that is often the favorite in his matchups... and yet. Simply put JT does not, and has not, shown enough to consider him for fantasy purposes. Off the server and within the team he can do plenty to continue earning a role in tier one, but he has yet to do anything to earn the trust of fantasy managers. JT will remain in the red until he shows an individual turnaround of some sort.
Karrigan
FaZe Clan's in-game leader will be targeting a return to form in 2023. Coming off a dominant 2022 campaign that saw FaZe Clan ascend to the top of the world rankings, Karrigan and co. are now tasked with proving that was more than a fluke. While Karrigan is arguably the best in-game leader in the world, he simply doesn't offer enough on the server to make his way into fantasy lineups. One of the biggest issues for Karrigan from a fantasy perspective is how well he positions his teammates. He sets everyone on FaZe up for individual success, often at the detriment of his own stats.
wiz
wiz falling into the players to fade category isn't due to any sort of talent concerns. One of the brightest talents coming out of North America, there's a ton to like about wiz heading into 2023, but an opening match against Heroic is about as tough as it gets. This trial by fire will be a massive test for wiz. As most people stateside are aware of, plenty of players have shown promise in North America, but completely disappear in international play. If wiz can weather this storm he could show that he has the potential to actually live up to the hype that saw EG promote him to the main roster.
Stats courtesy of HLTV.Org
