Canada crushes Dust2’s Team of the Month for August

At the beginning of each month, Dust2 commemorates the best players inside the North American Counter-Strike scene by awarding five domestic talents over the three major competitive layers as members of Dust2’s Team of the Month.

This monthly award is handed out to the most impressive tier-one professional North American talents, as well as the best players inside of the second tier, most notably teams competing in ESL Challenger’s League. Lastly, to highlight the next best upcoming talent inside of the scene, at least one spot is given to the best player in ESEA Advanced over the month.

The aim of this award is not only to continue to spread the good word of some of the best players in the scene today but also to give a platform of discovery to rising talents who may dominate the servers of tomorrow. As a part of the mission to improve our coverage within the scene, monthly recognition of the best players across the region comes as a natural step in growth.

In our efforts to continue highlighting the performances of the region’s best talents, it is only right that the coaches receive the proper spotlight. Accompanying the five players chosen for the Team of the Month will also be the Coach of the Month, to ensure the mind behind the talent gets its deserved recognition.

Topping off the list is recurring member Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, who has without a doubt proven his claim as the top NA talent this year. Although action was thin because of the break, Twistzz still made sure he held his position by showing himself off at BLAST following the season restart. He closed the Fall Group event as the highest-rated NA player with a 1.20 rating through nine maps. His sound efforts were enough to help FaZe secure a place at the Fall Finals later this year.

Second on the list is former teammate and fellow Canadian Keith “NAF” Markovic, who also had a strong performance at BLAST while his team placed in the top three to earn a spot at the Fall Finals. NAF closed the event tied for twelfth with a 1.16 rating, only having one negative performance through the seven maps played. His performance was a staple for the surging Liquid squad that came out of the gates swinging following the break.

Accompanying the Canadians on this month’s list is a pair of Brazilian teammates in Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt and newcomer teammate Romeu “zevy” Rocco, representing paiN. The team, and specifically the duo, have been on fire since their debut a couple of weeks back, taking wins over Isurus, MIBR, 9z, and 00 Nation in the South American RMRs and CCT, and even winning their first attempt at qualifying for the RMR. Through the first fourteen maps together, biguzera is at a 1.19 rating while AWPer zevy is lighting it up with a 1.26 rating. Time will tell what the ceiling is for this team, but it is clear the new look paiN is cooking with gasoline.

Rounding out the players portion of the list is Adam “Grizz” Golden, representing Take Flyte inside of ESEA Advanced. He’s been the X-factor for the team’s league-best 7-1 season record, as he’s currently sitting first in frags and multifrags while also placing top ten in ADR through eight matches. The young talent is proving his value as an impactful rifler and is looking to take his place as best in S42 ADV with the season rounding the corner, and deservedly so.

Going back-to-back for the coach of the month this time around is Liquid’s Damien “daps” Steele. Following a break of preparation, the team had a fair amount of time to get firing on all cylinders and daps made sure his team maximized the practice time. In their return at BLAST, they looked stellar as a team, with four of his five players ending the event above a 1.10 rating and ultimately ending the event top three. With a 6-1 record in August against tier one competition, daps has his players in match form.

Dust2’s Team of the Month for July is:

• Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken

• Keith “NAF” Markovic

• Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt

• Romeu“zevy” Rocco

• Adam “Grizz” Golden

• Damian “daps” Steele (Coach)

TOTM all-time leaders:

• Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken: 4

• Keith “NAF” Markovic: 3

• Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt: 3

• Eduardo “dumau” Wolkmer: 2

• William “spek” Smith: 2

• Damian “daps” Steele (Coach): 2