SMG Player of the Year Pyramid | 5.28.26
After one of the wildest mid-season shuffle periods in CDL history, a familiar face has stayed in the top spot in our Season SMG Player Pyramid. This is still a season-long ladder, but with voters asked to lean slightly into recency, this update weighs both the full body of work and who is setting the bar in the current meta. In a field reshaped by roster moves and role changes, we’re rewarding the subs whose form, impact, and momentum have surged the most since our last check-in.
Let us know in the comments what you'd change in the rankings & whether we should start ranking by recent form instead of a season ranking.
The Season Ladder (Not Left to Right, just Tiers)

Previous Rankings:
May 6th: Heading into Major III
March 26th: Pre-Major II
March 5th: Mid-Major II Qualifiers
February 12th: Pre-Major II Qualifiers
January 28th: Pre-Major I
January 8th: Post Winter Break
December 4th: Preseason

Tier 1
Chris "Simp" Lehr - FaZe Vegas
Previous Tier: Tier 1 (Unchanged)
Next Match: May 30th at 3:00 pm EST vs. LA Thieves
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.11 (2nd)
Slayer Rating: 97.0 (3rd)
Damage Rating: 12,354 (3rd)
aKD: 1.13 (2nd)
TES Rating: 60.1% (2nd)
NTK Pct: 66.1% (11th)
Tier 2
Tyler "aBeZy" Pharris - LA Thieves
Previous Tier: Tier 3 (Up 1 Tier)
Next Match: May 30th at 3:00 pm EST vs. FaZe Vegas
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.04 (9th)
Slayer Rating: 89.5 (15th)
Damage Rating: 11,096 (22nd)
aKD: 1.04 (7th)
TES Rating: 59.0% (5th)
NTK Pct: 68.1% (3rd)
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📸 Photo by @CODLeague
Joseph "JoeDeceives" Romero - Toronto KOI
Previous Tier: Tier 2 (Unchanged)
Next Match: May 29th at 3:00 pm EST vs. Carolina Royal Ravens
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.15 (1st)
Slayer Rating: 98.2 (2nd)
Damage Rating: 12,357 (2nd)
aKD: 1.15 (1st)
TES Rating: 60.9% (1st)
NTK Pct: 68.5% (2nd)
Tier 3
Cuyler "Huke" Garland - OpTic Texas
Previous Tier: Tier 2 (Down 1 Tier)
Next Match: May 29th at 6:00 pm EST vs. Vancouver Surge
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.04 (7th)
Slayer Rating: 91.3 (8th)
Damage Rating: 11,576 (10th)
aKD: 1,.01 (11th)
TES Rating: 58.8% (8th)
NTK Pct: 65.6% (14th)
Anthony "Shotzzy" Cuevas-Castro - OpTic Texas
Previous Tier: Tier 3 (Unchanged)
Next Match: May 29th at 6:00 pm EST vs. Vancouver Surge
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.04 (10th)
Slayer Rating: 93.0 (6th)
Damage Rating: 11,348 (15th)
aKD: 1.05 (6th)
TES Rating: 57.8% (14th)
NTK Pct: 66.2% (10th)
-1780009975737.webp)
📸 Photo by @CODLeague
Paco "HyDra" Rusiewiez - LA Thieves
Previous Tier: Tier 4 (Up 1 Tier)
Next Match: May 30th at 3:00 pm EST vs. FaZe Vegas
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.05 (6th)
Slayer Rating: 93.3 (5th)
Damage Rating: 11,622 (9th)
aKD: 1.08 (4th)
TES Rating: 58.6% (9th)
NTK Pct: 65.1% (16th)
Tier 4
Travis "Neptune" McCloud - Paris Gentle Mates
Previous Tier: Tier 3 (Down 1 Tier)
Next Match: May 30th at 4:30 pm EST vs. Carolina Royal Ravens
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.04 (8th)
Slayer Rating: 91.8 (7th)
Damage Rating: 11,629 (8th)
aKD: 1.01 (10th)
TES Rating: 58.9% (6th)
NTK Pct: 65.8% (13th)
Jovan "O4" Rodriguez - FaZe Vegas
Previous Tier: Tier 4 (Unchanged)
Next Match: May 30th at 3:00 pm EST vs. LA Thieves
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 0.99 (15th)
Slayer Rating: 90.3 (12th)
Damage Rating: 11,382 (14th)
aKD: 0.98 (14th)
TES Rating: 57.9% (13th)
NTK Pct: 67.6% (4th)
-1780009975737.webp)
📸 Photo by @CODLeague
Kyle "Kremp" Haworth - G2 Minnesota
Previous Tier: Tier 4 (Unchanged)
Next Match: May 9th at 6:00 pm EST vs. Boston Breach
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.04 (11th)
Slayer Rating: 98.7 (1st)
Damage Rating: 12,544 (1st)
aKD: 1.07 (5th)
TES Rating: 58.4% (10th)
NTK Pct: 64.6% (17th)
Tobias "CleanX" Juul Jønsson - Toronto KOI
Previous Tier: Tier 4 (Unchanged)
Next Match: May 29th at 3:00 pm EST vs. Carolina Royal Ravens
Overall Stats (Active AR Ranks)
KD: 0.99 (14th)
Slayer Rating: 91.0 (9th)
Damage Rating: 11,947 (6th)
aKD: 0.98 (15th)
TES Rating: 57.9% (12th)
NTK Pct: 67.4% (6th)
Tier 5
Logan "Lurqxx" Brown - Carolina Royal Ravens
Previous Tier: Tier 4 (Down 1 Tier)
Next Match: May 29th at 3:00 pm EST vs. Toronto KOI
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.06 (4th)
Slayer Rating: 94.9 (4th)
Damage Rating: 12,000 (5th)
aKD: 1.01 (12th)
TES Rating: 58.9% (7th)
NTK Pct: 66.3% (9th)
Amer "Pred" Zulbeari - Riyadh Falcons
Previous Tier: Tier 5 (Unchanged)
Next Match: May 30th at 7:30 pm EST vs. Miami Heretics
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.07 (3rd)
Slayer Rating: 90.9 (11th)
Damage Rating: 11,537 (11th)
aKD: 1.08 (3rd)
TES Rating: 59.4% (3rd)
NTK Pct: 67.5% (5th)
-1780009975736.webp)
📸 Photo by @CODLeague
Saud "Exnid" Alotai - Riyadh Falcons
Previous Tier: Tier 5 (Unchanged)
Next Match: May 30th at 7:30 pm EST vs. Miami Heretics
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.02 (12th)
Slayer Rating: 89.5 (14th)
Damage Rating: 11,243 (19th)
aKD: 0.98 (13th)
TES Rating: 57.7% (15th)
NTK Pct: 65.8% (12th)
Justice "Estreal" McMillan - Paris Gentle Mates
Previous Tier: Tier 5 (Unchanged)
Next Match: May 30th at 4:30 pm EST vs. Carolina Royal Ravens
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.05 (5th)
Slayer Rating: 90.9 (10th)
Damage Rating: 11,508 (12th)
aKD: 1.03 (8th)
TES Rating: 59.1% (4th)
NTK Pct: 69.0% (1st)
Nicolas "Traixx" Monaco - Miami Heretics
Previous Tier: Tier 5 (Unchanged)
Next Match: May 30th at 7:30 pm EST vs. Riyadh Falcons
Overall Stats (Active SMG Ranks)
KD: 1.00 (13th)
Slayer Rating: 89.9 (13th)
Damage Rating: 11,646 (7th)
aKD: 1.02 (9th)
TES Rating: 58.0% (11th)
NTK Pct: 66.6% (8th)