ultimate and Lake shine in Dust2.us' Team of the Month for September 2024

Dust2.us has returned once again with our Team of the Month for September to highlight some of the best players currently active in the NA scene. As always, Dust2.us' list consists of two professional-level players, two players from ESL Challenger League, and one standout name from ESEA Advanced. Additionally, the list includes the most impactful coach regardless of tier.

This month saw NA players all over the world as ESL Pro League Season 20 and the BLAST Premier Fall Finals played out while at home ESL Challenger League Season 48 continued and ESEA Advanced Season 50 came to an end. This gave us a chance to appreciate the contributions of NA players at all levels of the game as we rapidly approach the second Major of 2024.

Against Top 30 opposition, NA's best pro player this month was undoubtedly Liquid's Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak, who ended the month with a 1.12 rating over 19 maps while attending ESL Pro League Season 20 and the BLAST Premier Fall Finals with his team. While Liquid were unable to lock down a top-four finish at either of the events, they were still highly competitive, with wins over VP, Complexity, and Spirit. ultimate was especially deadly in Liquid's grudge match against Complexity, with the Pole posting a 1.79 rating, 112.7 ADR, and 40 kills to smash Liquid's regional rival.

NA's second top pro for September 2024 is another player who recently made a graceful transition into tier-one play — Mason "Lake" Sanderson. The young rifler has far less opportunities to compete at the top level than ultimate, but made the best of it at EPL Season 20, where he ended the event with a 1.11 rating over eight maps. With wins over Complexity, Fnatic, and Imperial M80 have shown they can still hang at the tier-two level and a top-eight finish at EPL is certainly a great result for M80 and Lake.

Looking at ESL Challenger League for the month of September, Legacy's AWPer, Guilherme "saadzin" Pacheco, has been a clear star as he has helped his team dominate Season 48 after returning from Brazil. The 20-year-old currently boasts an impressive 1.45 rating over fourteen maps while wielding the big green gun while claiming notable wins over timbermen, Party Astronauts, and Nouns.

NRG's Canadian rifler, Jadan "HexT" Postma, has also been doing good work in the division, maintaining a strong 1.43 rating over ten maps this month while taking wins over Wildcard and timbermen and a map off of M80. His team went 9-1 in September in ESL Challenger League Season 48 which has gone a long way in helping the team as they aim to qualify to ESL Pro League Season 21.

Down at the ESEA Advanced level, while undefined failed to take down Akimbo in a marathon four-map series to win the division, Connor "chop" Sullivan deserves many kudos for strong performances on the team throughout the back half of playoffs. On the maps tracked by HLTV, chop posted a 1.33 rating over twelve maps while also posting a 1.30 rating in the finals against Akimbo. The results are significant as chop has been in the background for some time in the NA team and it's nice to see him back on the come up.

As for the coach of the month, Dust2.us wanted to give Damian "daps" Steele a tip of the hat for his continued work with the NRG project. While NRG have continued to struggle to find results when it matters in qualifiers, the team has seen signs of steady improvement, with the squad taking maps off of M80, Wildcard, and Nouns this month. Overall in September, NRG posted a 14-2 record which is a testament to daps and Nick "nitr0" Cannella's work with this team despite the overall mixed results.

Dust2.us’ Team of the Month for September 2024 is:

• Roland "ultimate" Tomkowiak (Pro)

• Mason "Lake" Sanderson (Pro)

• Guilherme "saadzin" Pacheco (ECL)

• Jadan "HexT" Postma (ECL)

• Connor "chop" Sullivan (Advanced)

• Damian "daps" Steele (Coach)