The Gambit star joins the list at #17 as a result of his great individual performances and his role in helping his team dominate throughout the year.
Bogdan "sheydos" Naumov joined the CIS squad in September of 2020. The Russian team slowly began to rise through the CIS rankings, finishing 3rd-4th in First Strike CIS with a loss to Team Singularity.
Gambit began the VCT Circuit in strong fashion, however, dominating CIS Masters 1 without dropping a single map. Sheydos took home MVP at this tournament with a strong 1.28 rating.
The next stage introduced both EMEA competition and the first international LAN. Gambit qualified to the EMEA Stage 2 Challengers Playoffs with a lot of hype due to performance in scrims. Sheydos and his team the event began in disapointing fashion with a 0-2 loss to FunPlus Phoenix. Gambit rose through the lower bracket without losing a map, however, crushing BBL Esports and taking revenge on FPX. While the team suffered a close loss to FNATIC in the semifinals, sheydos was an integral part of his team's success, attaining a 1.15 rating.
Gambit's truly dominant form began with Stage 3, crushing opponents in CIS Challengers 1 and winning the EMEA Stage 3 Challengers Playoffs, suffering only an early loss to top team Acend before taking the tournament. Sheydos was once again an integral contributor to Gambit's success, putting up a 1.08 rating on agents such as Skye and Sage. Sheydos was a key part of Gambit's win in Masters Berlin with a 1.22 rating in the group stage and a solid 1.01 rating in the team's three playoff games.
While Gambit continued their dominant performance into VALORANT Champions, sheydos's performance quickly declined. The flex star clearly struggled to frag, dropping a negative K-D in all three playoff matches. The CIS titans finished Champions in 2nd place, with sheydos's 0.94 rating playing a key factor.
Why was sheydos the 17th best player of 2021?
sheydos is a star who played a crucial role in helping Gambit become the top team of the 2021 circuit. He consistently performs well on flex agents, playing particularly well in Masters 1 and Masters 3. The falling off of his performance in the most important tournament of the year, however, is a reason his ranking is perhaps lower than many expected.
2021 Rankings
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