NA clears Brazil in Dust2.us’ TOTM for January 2023

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

This monthly award is handed out to the most impressive tier-one professional Americas talents, as well as the best players inside of the second tier, most notably teams competing in ESL Challenger 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.

Kicking off the first selection of the new year is TOTM king, Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken, sporting his sixth appearance on the list after a top-five rating performance at the first event of the year for him, BLAST Premier Spring Groups. His 1.30 rating effort across rating, K/D rating, and K/D-difference served as major points of impact for his team winning their group with wins over Complexity and OG.

One spot below Twistzz in rating at BLAST groups, and the talent taking the second seat in this month's TOTM is Complexity’s Michael “Grim” Wince. His individual performances in groups, specifically against NAVI, were some of the only bright spots for NA talent on NA teams. His sixth-best 1.23 event rating was headlined by a 1.62 rating 30-bomb performance on Inferno against NAVI. He followed it up with 24 more on the 30-round Overpass decider loss, cementing an incredible performance against one of the world’s best teams despite defeat.

Making his debut on the list to start the new year is Vendetta’s Kevin “consti” Yi, who looks to be the team's new star after the recent roster shuffle. In January, consti was a key player in his team’s success in the most important isolated event in January, the IEM Brazil Open Qualifier. He had strong events throughout the month, but his performances against timbermen, ATK, and Nouns to secure the sole closed qualifier seat taking place later in February were something worth highlighting, and enough to get him on this month’s list.

Strife’s David “J0LZ” Jolin looked strong in each bout against notable peers throughout all of January, ending just three maps with a sub-one rating. His brightest showings on the month came in the fl0m Cup against higher ranked EG Black and Vendetta. J0LZ’s multiple 1.50+ rating showings and one 40-bomb were the peaks of his impressive performances as he and Strife took home first place.

Eros star talent Darius “PNDLM” Bendali claims a TOTM seat for the second time following a month of terror inside of ESEA ADV. Besides his team’s undefeated 5-0 record on the month, PNDLM ended January with a stat line of 132-66 K/D, 2 K/D ratio, 115.4 ADR, 1.14 frags per round, and 19.02 RWS. Across the board, PNDLM proved his worth as ADV’s MVP for January.

Debuting on the TOTM is Vendetta’s coach Seng “Filo” Tu Aung, who earns the spot after championing a rather impressive month with his team. January’s successes included a 14-6 map record, region-high 1.11 monthly team rating, and wins over higher-rated Nouns and ATK to win IEM Brazil’s Open Qualifier. The team's success ultimately saw the acquisition of Saad “Pluto” Siraj to ATK, another feather Filo can put in his coaching cap.

Dust2’s Team of the Month for January 2023 is:

• Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken

• Michael “Grim” Wince

• Kevin “consti” Yi

• David “J0LZ” Jolin

• Darius “PNDLM” Bendali

• Seng “Filo” Tu Aung (Coach)

TOTM all-time leaders:

• Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken: 6

• Keith “NAF” Markovic: 4

• Rodrigo “biguzera” Bittencourt: 3

• Damian “daps” Steele (Coach): 3

• Daniel “sprayxd” Kogan (Coach): 3

• Eleven-way tie: 2