The best CS:GO players of 2022 – Twistzz

Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken had a phenomenal season with FaZe Clan in 2022, so the fact that he got nominated by hltv as one of the top 20 players of the year was not surprising at all.

Twistzz is the main reason why FaZe Clan won IEM Cologne in 2022. At the score of 2-2 and 14-14, he produced one of the most original plays in the history of CS:GO. That moment actually won the Play of the Year award at Esports Awards.

What he did required a level of ingenuity that’s really hard to obtain. Such moments are rare and they demonstrate just how good the player who created them is.

Twistzz’s 2022 year in CS:GO

When he transferred to FaZe Clan, Twistzz was a highly desired player who was competing for Team Liquid. He spent several years there and went five trophies. All of them were S-tier, but these weren’t the most prestigious ones.

For example, Twistzz hadn’t won a CS:GO Major when he joined FaZe Clan. But now, two years later, he’s not only a Major winner but the winner of several other important events, including IEM Cologne, ESL Pro League Season 15, and IEM Katowice.

What’s even more important, Twistzz consolidated his position as one of the best players in CS:GO. When he played for Liquid, it wasn’t clear whether he was getting carried or not. But now we know that he was one of the high-impact players on the roster.

The journey made by Twistzz with FaZe Clan in 2022 is nothing short of spectacular: one Major win, both IEM events, and the ESL Pro League Season 15. For FaZe, winning these four S-tier events represented their biggest accomplishment since 2018. This was a long-awaited moment and Finn “karrigan” Andersen celebrated it.

Needless to say, Twistzz celebrated it as well. Now we’re eager to see what he’s going to do next. The number of opportunities for 2023 abound. There will be at least 10 important tournaments that he’s going to attend and each of them represents a new opportunity.

FaZe Clan are probably determined to win at least two tournaments this year. If they can win another Major trophy, that would make them the best team since Astralis. Very few competitors managed to win more than one Major title. But FaZe are perfectly positioned to do this.

Header: PGL