Hot Take Point Made, Episode 35, February 11, 2025
Thorin made the claim that ropz is the most impactful rifler of 2022–2024. At the time, I denounced the claim with the counterargument that NiKo is more impactful because of the more aggressive role he takes, that NiKo was a better clutcher in 2024, and that NiKo is better at 90–95% of the game than ropz. Despite not agreeing that ropz is the more impactful player—and I would even argue that NiKo is the better overall player—the case is mounting for ropz being the greater of the two.
Before getting into the head-to-head, let me address a few of the likely-to-be-asked questions when comparing these players:
Where is donk in this?
donk’s rookie year is competing with s1mple’s 2021 or 2018 (take your pick) as the greatest single year in modern Counter-Strike.
Note: Every time I say “modern Counter-Strike,” I am referring to everything from the birth of CS:GO in late 2012 until today.
I find comparing donk’s career difficult now just because of how meteoric his rise is. He falls behind NiKo and ropz in the longevity department, but if he continues at even 90% of the level he was at in 2024, he will pass both ropz and NiKo in every possible metric relatively quickly. There’s no saying he will do that, however.
What about the role difference between the two?
Both players have found themselves to be superstars in their own ways. NiKo has had more role changes than ropz over his career, showing his versatility as a lurker-closer, opener-spacetaker, briefly an AWPer, and even an in-game leader. ropz has really stuck to what he’s good at in the mid-late round. He varies round to round in how he plays his positions, but ropz usually gets what ropz wants.
I acknowledge that these players play different positions, so differences in values between rating systems and individual philosophies may declare a winner before a serious breakdown is even created. My perception of Greatness accounts for the roles of the respective players without directly arguing that one is better simply because of role.
Can’t this be answered simply with 2 Majors > 0 or 9 MVPs > 5?
No. Reductive achievement counting will never deliver a direct answer to Greatness—it will merely provide a filter.
What is the difference between impactful, better, and greatness?
In my eyes, impact refers to the amount of difference a player causes—generally in the server through performance. I would argue that, over the course of the year, NiKo has more impact on the round outcome than ropz because creating openings or being the victim shapes so much of what follows. Additionally, NiKo is involved in a surprising number of clutches compared to ropz (NiKo has been involved in almost the same number of Big Event 1v1s as ropz over a similar number of maps in the last 7 years).
Being the better player is slightly more subjective than impact. It’s also tied to in-server output, but I usually approach it with less context and more focus on what each player provides a team in terms of fragging output, damage per round, etc.
Greatness involves circumstance and gravity. Majors are more important than Prestige events, which are more important than Big Events, which are then tested against eras of dominance—and context is tied to each victory and loss.
Now that the FAQ has been fairly answered, I’ll define a brief criterion for Greatness. This whole discussion deserves its own article, so my answer here will be more concise. It’s also worth noting that my understanding of the game is always being tweaked as I manually attempt to refine the regression by which I define Greatness. Today, I see Greatness as a combination of individual output, ability to elevate teammates, and winningness. There are further aspects such as cultural impact and longevity as well.
When it comes to individual ability, the case for NiKo’s Greatness over ropz’s becomes easiest to build. In only one year since ropz started playing professionally did he eclipse NiKo in HLTV’s Top 20 list—2019. ropz beat NiKo in that year by a single position (10th vs 11th). The average gap NiKo held over ropz in HLTV’s ranking over 7 years is about 7 positions.
When Thorin brought this point up on Hot Take Point Made, he claimed that ropz is better in the clutch. I pushed back then, and I still would. Since 2018, NiKo has the same number of Clutch Points per game on HLTV (0.02), wins a higher percentage of 1v1s (5% more), and—this will blow your mind—NiKo has won more total 1v1s in Big Events since 2018 than ropz, despite ropz having been in more 1v1s. ropz has won more 1v2s and a single 1v4 more than NiKo, but NiKo has won more 1v3s. The sample sizes are similar over 7.5 years, but NiKo is winning clutches at a similar, if not better, rate.
What ropz does that NiKo does not is take the most overlooked role and overperform in it to such a degree that he has turned himself into a superstar from a position that rarely gets dedicated team resources. Even though ropz doesn’t necessarily play off teammates better in strict micro on a bombsite, he can more consistently maintain macro presence, allowing more options in the mid-round. When ropz is lurking lobby on Nuke, you have no clue whether he is in trophy room, at the mouth of a smoked-out squeaky door, peeking into A through hut, or playing as defensively as the top of T-roof. This heightens his in-game leader’s offensive acumen, as ropz writes the book on how to create pressure through a modernized style of lurking. Both karrigan and apEX seem to be at the pinnacle of their powers when ropz is a tool at their disposal.
In regard to the other three categories—winningness on the biggest stages—ropz wins with 20 S-Tier LAN trophies (2 of which are Majors) compared to NiKo’s 14. Cultural impact would lean NiKo, but ropz has defined a playstyle and is catching up. Longevity goes to NiKo.
Every hero needs a heroic flaw, and it’s worth sizing up the two in this capacity as it begins to create a gap in their résumés.
For ropz, he is—and likely always will be—a baiter in my eyes. Take that how you will, but it feels like there’s at least one round per series where ropz is sitting on the other side of the map creating zero pressure and having negative impact. It comes with the role. He makes up for it by being the most influential player in other rounds as he finds an unlikely opening and maintains presence.
On the other hand, NiKo’s greatest flaw should be seen as the most unforgivable in the sport—and especially in a discussion of Greatness: to be the biggest Major choker of all time is no badge of honor. There is hardly a consolation prize, considering history remembers and bends the rules for Major winners (e.g., a “Brazilian era” with 2 Majors and only 1 other tournament win in a 4-month span).
ropz’s 2 Major wins, a scrolling bar of trophies on HLTV, and 2 Intel Grand Slam gold bars may seem to present an easy answer to his Greatness eclipsing NiKo’s. But I find that measuring both of their flaws reveals that ropz has a much less vulnerable Achilles’ heel. In almost every measurable individual category, NiKo has proven to be a better player than ropz—but my final statement is this: ropz has proven to be an asset nearly impossible to overlook, as he has found sustained Greatness in a role that elevates his teams to levels they never reached before his arrival—or after his departure.
