FURIA’s two top Dust2.us’ TOTM for April 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 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. You can find the all-time TOTM appearance list here.

FURIA’s leading pair of Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato and Yuri “yuurih” Santos had strong months individually despite falling out at the quarter-finals at both BLAST Americas Showdown and IEM Rio. The two star riflers ended both events inside the top seven in HLTV rating, serving as tangible evidence of their solid play. The two were also key components to FURIA earning first place at the BLAST Americas RMR, securing the team the sole Legends Stage seat from North America.

Speaking of the Americas RMR, it was TOTM debutant Felipe “skullz” Medeiros who topped the charts across the whole event in HLTV rating with a whopping 1.41 over seven maps played en route to paiN’s second-place showing at the event. His busy month included appearances at five different events including the RMR, with his most impressive showings coming at the RMR against domestic competition. skullz’s newfound highs could not have come at a perfect time with the Major right around the corner.

Michael “Swisher” Schmid joins the list for the second time now after another impressive month with ATK, where the rifler was able to put his top-tier form on display in Cash Cup and Challenger-level competition. There are few deserving talents left that haven’t been tested by tier-one organizations. Without question, Swisher is one of them.

Former BNB and Vendetta rifler Saad “Pluto” Siraj caps the player list off with his debut-earning effort with WITHOUT WARNING. His stat line includes a rather impressive 1.20 K/D ratio, 92 ADR, and .78 frags per round, something that would serve as a catalyst for his team's perfect 6-0 record in the month.

Going back-to-back on the coaches vote is paiN’s Henrique “rikz” Waku, which should come as no surprise to anyone considering the newfound heights his squad is finding with wins over Liquid, 00 NATION, and BIG. rikz has his team surging at the perfect time with the final CS:GO Major coming up.