MW3 SMG Player of the Year Ladder | May 14th
Heading into Major 3 in Toronto, it is time to update our rankings for the SMG Player of the Year race. This time around, instead of Breaking Point compiling the ranking, we reached out to see how the fans rank the competition.
Below are the fan-voted Top 5 SMG Players of the season heading into Toronto!
Previous Rankings
Mid-Major 3 Qualifiers - Apr 23rd
Post-Major 2 - Mar 26th
Mid-Major 2 Qualifiers - Feb 27th
Entering Major 2 Qualifiers - Feb 14th
Best Performance of the Qualifiers - Jan 23rd
Opening two-week performance - Jan 9th
Storylines to watch
None of the Big 4 (ATL, TX, TOR, NY) play each other in the first round of Major 3, but that doesn't mean that there won't be upsets. New York faces an LA Thieves team that is scrappy and not an easy out. Toronto goes against Seattle, who have great fundamentals in Hardpoint & is dangerous in SND. Carolina always plays better on LAN, so Texas can't overlook them in Round 1. Overall, while it looks like it will be straightforward, surprises always happen when we least expect them.
1) Chris "Simp" Lehr - Atlanta FaZe
Team Record: 26-4 Series Record, 85-32 Map Record, 365 CDL Points (1st)
Next Match: Thursday, May 16th vs Miami Heretics at 3:00 pm EST
There was only one player that was clear-cut in a position on this ladder, or any fan-voted ladder for that matter. Simp had an average placement of 1.25 by the fans, with the next closest player having a 3.28 average placement. He received 89% of the 1st place votes, and his lowest position was 3rd. Simp has been a front-runner for the SMG Player of the Year award all season, and that hasn't changed as of late. It'd take very poor form at Major 3 & Major 4 to dethrone him, but Simp historically rises up on LAN so those prospects are bleak.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.16
Slayer Rating: 85.7
aKD: 1.16
TES: 60.7%
NTK%: 71.0%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.19
Kills per 10 minutes: 24.2
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 59.2
Damage per 10 minutes: 4374.9
SnD
KD: 1.20
Kills per round: 0.80
ADR: 157.6
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 56.1%
Control
KD: 1.09
Kills per 10 minutes: 19.8
Caps per ATK Round: 1.8
Damage per 10 minutes: 4062.6
2) Tyler "aBeZy" Pharris - Atlanta FaZe
Team Record: 26-4 Series Record, 85-32 Map Record, 365 CDL Points (1st)
Next Match: Thursday, May 16th vs Miami Heretics at 3:00 pm EST
Coming in the second position is another Atlanta FaZe member, aBeZy. After a slow start to his standards, the superstar entry SMG has been on fire as of late. The competition for the 2nd spot was tight, but aBeZy gained the most 2nd place votes, taking 31.3% of the total votes. He also had the most 3rd place votes (28% of the total votes) and the second most 4th place votes (21.3%). Fans had him cemented in the Top 4, but at varying degrees. Ultimately, aBeZy finished with an average placement of 3.28, just 0.02 ahead of the next player on the ladder.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.05
Slayer Rating: 78.4
aKD: 1.09
TES: 58.9%
NTK%: 73.6%
Hardpoint
KD: 0.99
Kills per 10 minutes: 20.7
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 48.1
Damage per 10 minutes: 3870.0
SnD
KD: 1.19
Kills per round: 0.81
ADR: 164.8
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 59.0%
Control
KD: 1.12
Kills per 10 minutes: 19.3
Caps per ATK Round: 1.5
Damage per 10 minutes: 3585.4
3) Anthony "Shotzzy" Cuevas-Castro - OpTic Texas
Team Record: 23-8 Series Record, 77-48 Map Record, 305 CDL Points (3rd)
Next Match: Thursday, May 16th vs Carolina Royal Ravens at 6:00 pm EST
Shotzzy has been one of the hardest players to place on the Ladders this season. While at times his individual numbers haven't jumped off the page, the eye test shows how valuable he's been to OpTic Texas. He's been extremely impactful across every stage, but to take the next leap up the ladder he'll have to raise a trophy at the Major.
Fans have the same thoughts, as he was one of two players to receive over 13% of the total votes for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place on the fan-voted ladder. Overall, he finished with an average placement of 3.30, just 0.02 behind aBeZy. He had the second most 1st place votes, 2nd place votes, and 3rd place votes. Shotzzy Top 2 might just be next up 👀
Overall
KD: 1.03
Slayer Rating: 80.1
aKD: 1.06
TES: 58.0%
NTK%: 72.3%
Hardpoint
KD: 0.98
Kills per 10 minutes: 21.8
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 59.7
Damage per 10 minutes: 3981.7
SND
KD: 1.13
Kills per round: 0.78
ADR: 147.4
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 48.7%
Control
KD: 1.07
Kills per 10 minutes: 19.4
Caps per ATK Round: 1.9
Damage per 10 minutes: 3684.8
4) Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez - New York Subliners
Team Record: 16-8 Series Record, 57-38 Map Record, 190 CDL Points (4th)
Next Match: Sunday, April 28th vs Atlanta FaZe at 6:00 pm EST
HyDra is another player that has been extremely hard to place this season. His individual numbers have been great for KDs, but his objective play is minimal and doesn't have the team results that others on the Ladder do. The Subliners finished Top 12 at Major 1, which is the lowest finishing mark at a Major for anyone on the Ladder. While they did finish 3rd at Major 2, that is also the lowest-best finish out of any play on the ladder. With that in mind and the argument about how impactful his KDs actually on on the team level, he's very difficult to place.
Fans gave him the 4th highest average placement, as Paco finished with a 3.89. HyDra was the other player to receive over 13% of the total votes for 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th place on the fan-voted ladder. If the New York Subliners can regain some of their Modern Warfare 2 form, HyDra will be a dark horse candidate for SMG Player of the Year.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.13
Slayer Rating: 86.8
aKD: 1.13
TES: 59.3%
NTK%: 71.5%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.09
Kills per 10 minutes: 24.0
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 38.3
Damage per 10 minutes: 4387.3
SnD
KD: 1.12
Kills per round: 0.75
ADR: 148.7
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 40.2%
Control
KD: 1.19
Kills per 10 minutes: 22.2
Caps per ATK Round: 0.8
Damage per 10 minutes: 3993.9
5) Tobias "CleanX" Juul Jønsson - Toronto Ultra
Team Record: 23-6 Series Record, 73-31 Map Record, 315 CDL Points (2nd)
Next Match: Thursday, May 16th vs Seattle Surge at 4:30 pm EST
One of the more interesting takeaways from the fan voting was CleanX finishing in the 5th spot. He's a Major winner, has a Major MVP award, hasn't finished lower than 4th at a Major, and has terrific individual stats for an Entry SMG. Yet, he finished with an average placement of 4.43 in the poll. He was only in 67% of the total ballots by fans, meaning one-third of fans don't think he's a Top 5 SMG on the year. Taking everything into account, that was pretty shocking.
Advanced Season Stats
Overall
KD: 1.06
Slayer Rating: 81.5
aKD: 1.03
TES: 59.1%
NTK%: 72.5%
Hardpoint
KD: 1.11
Kills per 10 minutes: 23.6
Hill Time per 10 minutes: 45.1
Damage per 10 minutes: 4294.3
SnD
KD: 0.96
Kills per round: 0.70
ADR: 144.8
Opening Duel Win Percentage: 48.8%
Control
KD: 1.02
Kills per 10 minutes: 18.9
Caps per ATK Round: 1.2
Damage per 10 minutes: 3683.0
Other Players receiving votes:
#6: Gwinn - 5.37 avg placement, on 34% of voters' ballots, second most 5th place votes (18%)
#7: Pred - 5.56 avg placement, on 25% of voters' ballots, 6 votes inside the Top 3
#8: Lynz - Three total votes received, 3rd place was the highest vote
#9: Envoy - Received three 5th place votes
#10: Nero - Received one 4th place vote
