yuurih claims 19th spot on HLTV's Top 20 players of 2022 ranking
With the new year starting, HLTV has started to roll out the names of the first players to be featured on the website's Top 20 Players of 2022 list. The announcements started today, January 1st, and will go all the way until January 14th, the date of the HLTV Award Show.
Yuri "yuurih" Santos, FURIA's 23-year-old rifler, has been selected as the 19th best player of the year, one position ahead of IEM Rio Major winner Dzhami "Jame" Ali.
His average rating, compared to 2020, has taken a small hit, going from 1.13 two years ago to 1.09 in 2022. It's a very small drop, but that resulted in yuurih being placed 19th this year, despite FURIA having a more successful year, a semifinal appearance at IEM Rio. yuurih was the top performer from the FURIA side during the Challengers and Legends Stage, with impressive stats including 1.31 and 1.48 ratings in each stage respectively. The Champions Stage saw a plunge in his numbers, with yuurih averaging a 0.97 rating. Despite this, the rifler still finished the competition as the second-best player from the Brazilian side.
Before IEM Rio, there were seven more big events that FURIA attended in 2022. The year started out pretty rough for them with a 9-12th placement in IEM Katowice, where yuurih would have his worst performance of the year. Following that catastrophe, yuurih was crowned as an EVP of ESL Pro League Season 15 after finishing the event with an average rating of 1.20. The PGL Antwerp Major wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as the team wanted, with FURIA finishing in 5th-8th place. yuurih posted an average rating of 1.10, and continued to be the best performer on his team.
The second half of the season started with another EVP award, this time after a spectacular performances during IEM Dallas, where he averaged a 1.20 rating. After that, his and the team's performances would slow down, as they finished 9th-12th in the Roobet Cup, 7-8th in IEM Cologne, and 9-12th in EPL Season 16. yuurih had average ratings of 1.00, 1.06, and 1.10, respectively in these events.
As previously mentioned, this is the second time yuurih is featured as a top 20 player in HLTV's rankings, finishing in 14th place in 2020. In 2021 FURIA struggled to find an adequate piece for the fifth spot in the roster and that reflected in yuurih's and his team's performances that year.
Looking into the future, FURIA is getting more comfortable as the team hasn't moved a player since adding Rafael "saffee" Costa, but changes in the coaching staff have been made. 2023 seems like another one of the many "make or break" years for the Brazilian side, but they have the potential to break out and find their first big trophy.
