Top 10 esports pros struggling with bad luck

Of course, the success of esportsmen depends mainly on their skill and talent. But sometimes you can be as good as you want and still get nowhere. Because with all the skill you need for Esports, you can’t underestimate luck and coincidence!

As far as that goes, some pro players have been hit particularly hard, and you could almost think that there is an evil curse on them. Whether it’s CS:GO, League or Streetfighter, every game has a few unlucky players who somehow don’t manage to win, even if they try hard and actually play well! Is it chance, fate or karma? I don’t know, but that’s what these 10 players who have never won even though they are good players will be wondering.

10. Hiko

When it comes to unfortunate stories, Hiko can’t be left out! He has spent almost literally an entire decade making a name for himself in CS:GO. He’s been on Complexity, Cloud9, Team Liquid, Rogue, and many other teams with whom he’s strived for glory – unfortunately, mostly unsuccessfully. With Team Liquid, he became the ESL ESEA Pro League Season 2 Champion in North America in 2015, but unfortunately, that was already the peak of his CS career. Before joining Team Liquid, he was with iBUYPOWER, who became known for the first major match-fixing scandal in North America. Like others, Hiko moved on to Valorant and played for 100 Thieves for two years before eventually retiring from the pro scene there as well. Maybe he’ll have more success as a streamer! 

9. Punk

Even the best players can’t always play their best or have a bad day, and that’s happened to North America’s greatest streetfighter Punk several times. He is always touted as one of the best players in the world and in pretty much every tournament he plays in, he is considered the favorite. He’s been the perennial runner-up, where it’s never been enough for first place. It’s even crazier that he made it to first place on the Capcom Tour just last year! A lot of people can take a leaf out of his book, because even though he had to take defeat after defeat, he never lost his courage and was always a good loser!

8. Naded

Even in Halo, some pros remain trophy-less, even if they try really hard and have been in the esports scene for 12 years. This is exactly the story of Naded, who has achieved a lot of high placements in tournaments throughout his career. But somehow it was never enough to the first place in a big event. He was the longest-serving Halo pro of all time, but at some point, enough was enough for him and he retired from the pro scene. He became a full-time streamer, inspiring a new generation of young, aspiring Halo players. And he doesn’t even need a trophy to do it.

7. Uzi

The superstar Uzi should have become the Chinese Faker, anyway he played just as well in his time. He was one of the biggest talents in League of Legends with perfect game mechanics and dominated the botlane for years. But unfortunately, he was never really rewarded for it as he couldn’t win a regional title. Although he was able to celebrate his first international victory at MSI 2018, he never got the chance to lift the trophy at Worlds. Because of his health, he took a break in 2020 and returned to pro play in 2021 with Bilibili Gaming. Even though he couldn’t win on the big stage, he is still considered by many pros as one of the best players in the world and from China.

6. Kjaerbye

There was a time when Kjaerbye was a young Danish prodigy who also led his team Astralis to their first major win in a CS:GO major! He is the youngest Major winner, the youngest and first Dane ever to be elected HLTV MVP. But then he suddenly turned his back on Astralis and played for North. That was also the time when his performance deteriorated, but it was to mark only the beginning of a losing streak. He never regained his success with North and later with FaZe, while his former team, Astralis, slowly but surely established itself as a top team. The last team he tried his luck with before leaving the scene was Endpoint, but he wasn’t successful with that team either.

5. Scream

Former CS:GO pro ScreaM had the best time of his CS career with G2. He was known for shooting like an Aimbot and making crazy, sneaky plays. But unfortunately, he’s also one of the CS:GO players who was the most down on his luck. Compared to other players as good as ScreaM, he only managed to win four top-tier events. He finished seventh in the HLTV rankings in 2013 and still managed to finish ninth in 1016. He often switched teams after a year and one of his mates got one of the most famous vac bans in CS:GO history. Despite his talent, the big success failed to materialize. The streak of bad luck slowly came to an end when he switched to Valorant, where he was finally able to celebrate success with Team Liquid.

4. Chovy

A League of Legends star who has often missed out on first place is Chovy! He is simply a god when it comes to farming and was the first player ever to manage to achieve an overall KDA of 100, earning him the 2019 MVP Award! The young Korean has played in 8 playoff games in the LCK, finishing second three times and third four times. It was almost thought that it was just physically impossible for him to finish first, but last year he finally succeeded and was able to end his losing streak! He managed to defeat T1 in the finals of the LCK Summer Playoffs with Gen.G and finally win the trophy. For sure it wasn’t the last time for him if fate is good with him.

3. Arteezy

Making it to the top 3 is Dota 2 pro Arteezy, who is shaking up the pro scene in North America. He seems like someone who just can’t make up his mind. The superstar was considered one of the best players and a lot was always expected from him. When he joined the Evil Geniuses, he finished third in his first International, but after that his team got worse. So he left EG and joined a new superteam – Team Secret. But during that time, ironically, EG managed to win the International. That was the reason why he switched Arteezy back to EG, but unfortunately again without success. You won’t believe it, but yes, he then rejoined Team Secret, who almost finished last at the International, while EG finished third. What can you say with such unfortunate timing? Maybe it would be better to stick with one team through thick and thin?

2. Odoamne

League of Legends fans will remember the emotional LEC Summer Final 2022, where toplaner Odoamne and his team Rogue beat the favorite G2 by a score of 3-0. He’s been playing in the LEC, which was then called LCS, for seven years, has been with various teams, and has never been lucky enough to win a trophy. But last summer he was finally able to break his curse and finally became the LEC champion with Rogue, after seven years. He is definitely one of the best players in the LEC and was the sixth player to reach 2500 assists in the league. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to become World Champion yet, but who knows what the future holds?

1. Guardian

The CS:GO player the whole world is trembling before is none other than the Slovakian superstar Guardian! Nobody knows why the universe plays a trick on him and he just doesn’t win any big titles. He has made s1mple sweat and often proved that he can keep his cool even in a 1v3. But as a three-time major finalist, he unfortunately only made it to 2nd place so many times and his losing streak didn’t stop when he returned to NaVi. After his performance deteriorated, he was benched and, tragically, never again had the chance to compete for first place in a major tournament. Guardian hasn’t completely given up yet, though, and we’ll see if he makes it after all. In any case, he gets 1st place with us.