Easy Mac's Top 5 Rookie of the Year Candidates

1) David "RenKoR" Isern, Miami Heretics

His Case: RenKoR came into the season starting for the Miami Heretics, surrounded by veteran talent that haven't been able to get over the hump in the previous seasons. Instantly, he became their leading slayer & playmaker, while pushing them to a Top 3 finish at Major 1 in Madrid.

While his stats aren't super flashy, he was extremely consistent across the season & had multiple highlight moments on LAN. At Majors, RenKoR had a 1.11 K/D in Hardpoint with 26.0 kills and 3366 damage per 10 minutes. Without RenKoR, Miami could very well being on the outside looking in for Champs.

2) Mason "Mercules" Ramsay, OpTic Texas

His Case: While Mercules hasn't played the entire season, he has competed at two Major Tournaments if two very different situations. Coming in last second for Toronto Ultra to fill in for Ben "Beans" McMellon, Mercules didn't falter and helped the squad to a 3rd place finish. While it didn't look like the rookie would get signed for Stage IV, OpTic Texas made the surprise decision to sign him. The move has worked wonders, rejuvenating OpTic over the final weeks of the regular season.

Throughout the year, Mercules has signed individually. He leads all rookies with a 1.09 overall K/D, including a 88.5 Slayer Rating and 1.23 Control K/D. He has been the most impressive on LAN, maintaining a 1.05 K/D at Majors with positive K/Ds in all modes while having a 86.8 Slayer Rating. With two more LANs left to play, Mercules could still be in the running for the top spot.

📸 Photo by @CODLeague

3) Diego "SupeR" Escudero, Miami Heretics

His Case: SupeR is one of the toughest players to place on this ranking, having played only parts of the season & having decreased performances on LAN. He began the season as the Heretics substitute player, playing Challengers until being moved into the starting roster for Stage III. With him on the roster, Miami has finished 4th & 3rd in the two Majors played.

But, his individual impact hasn't been near the level it was in online matches, which is concerning. Overall, Super has great statistics. Those include a 1.09 overall K/D and 1.14 adjusted K/D while leading the League in SND K/D (1.35 ) and kills per round (0.83) in SND. On LAN, his SND numbers drop to a 0.94 K/D and 0.66 kills per round, while having just a 76.1 Slayer Rating. While the results are there, SupeR comes in 3rd for the Rookie of the Year ranking.

4) Saud "Exnid" Alotai, Vegas Falcons

His Case: The Top 3 spots currently sit fairly ahead of the pack, but there have still been quality prospects that have shown signs of potential. This is where Exnid comes in, having high mechanical talent but has been steadily learning the game this year.

Coming from the MENA region, Exnid needed to learn how to play & make decisions at the highest level at a rapid development time. This was made hard with their team results, but he still finished with a 1.01 LAN K/D with a 89.6 Slayer Rating at the Majors. He holds three important records as well including Single-Map Hardpoint Kill Record (52), Single-Map SND Damage Record (2,112), and Single-Map SND Opening Duels Won Record (6). While their is still plenty of room to grow, the potential is clearly there.

📸 Photo by @Spribs_

5) Noah "Lunarz" Whillock, LA Guerrillas M8

His Case: Lunarz was a standout Challengers player this season, proving to be the marquee AR prospect. Winning the opening Elite with OMiT Brooklyn, Lunarz was signed during Stage II to join the Guerrillas M8.

The move hasn't panned out, with LA failing to qualify for Champs and Lunarz struggling to develop on the roster. He did play excellent in Search & Destroy on LAN, finishing the year with a 1.73 K/D in Majors with 0.97 kills per round. Both statistics led the CDL, showing that in the small sample size that Lunarz can be effective in the right environment.