The game of Counter-Strike 2 has changed quite a bit. Because players can move around corners faster and get an advantage when they peek, the old way of relying heavily on snipers isn’t as strong anymore. Now, it’s the ‘star opener’ who is making a big difference. Two players who stand out in this new style are Danil “donk” Kryshkovets and Shahar “flameZ” Shushan. But who is actually better at this role?
Donk, with his amazing skills, helped bring about this change in how the game is played. However, even with his fame, his team Spirit is still trying to catch up to the top team in Counter-Strike, Vitality.
A big reason for Vitality’s success is their opener, flameZ, even though he might not see himself that way. So, what makes these two players different? And why does flameZ’s aggressive way of playing lead to more wins than donk’s?
Sticking to the Old Ways
Vitality has many talented players, including Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Robin “ropz” Kool, who are very well-known. Because of this, it’s easy to not notice flameZ as much. Everyone knows he’s good, though; he’s been ranked in the top 20 players twice. But it’s his older style of playing that really makes Vitality work well.
In a recent talk with us, flameZ said he feels more like an ‘entry’ player than an ‘opener.’ This means he’s better at getting the first kill when his team attacks a site, or creating space for his teammates to follow up, rather than fighting for control early in the round.
He explained, “I trust that the team’s plans are made with my path in mind. Maybe they aren’t designed for me to get a kill or do something amazing, but for me, getting information and sometimes sacrificing myself gives me confidence, and I’m happy to do it. When I do this, my team gets a lot of room to move, so I’m happy with that.”
“Maybe doing this helps me get a better score too, because there are players who are better at opening than me, but I’m better at entering. Opening might be more common now, with players like xertioN, XANTARES, who have more chances to take fights at the start of rounds, and they do it better than I do.”
Looking at the players flameZ mentioned, like MOUZ’s Dorian “xertioN” Berman, FURIA’s Mareks “YEKINDAR” Galinskis, and Falcons’ Maxim “kyousuke” Lukin, only kyousuke takes fewer fights at the start of rounds on the attacking side than flameZ. flameZ takes about 29% of these fights, with kyousuke slightly behind at 27.8%. All the others take 30% or more, with xertioN taking the most at 34%.
flameZ’s own words about not being the best opener are supported by the numbers. His success rate in these opening fights is 39.4%, which is the lowest. However, the strength of Vitality’s team strategy and flameZ’s point about being an entry player, not just an opener, is clear when we look at how often his teammates trade kills for him when he dies.
When flameZ dies first, his teammates get a kill in return about 42.8% of the time. The next highest is Ismailcan “XANTARES” Dortkardes from Aurora, who has a trade-death rate of 28.2%. For comparison, donk is traded for only 22.8% of the rounds where he dies first, while taking 31.4% of Spirit’s opening duels and winning 58.2% of them.
This willingness to put the team first is an older way of thinking, more like when Vitality’s team leader Dan “apEX” Madesclaire was a top entry fragger himself. It also means roles are more clearly defined than in many other teams, similar to ropz’s style of playing alone. This gives Vitality a steady performance and a clear understanding of their game plan that other teams struggle to match.
Not a Fair Comparison
Honestly, it’s hard to compare flameZ to other aggressive players like him, and especially to donk. At least for now, because the ways their teams play are so different.
If we go back to 2022, when flameZ was playing for OG, he took a similar number of opening fights and had a better success rate of 44.1%, putting him more in line with the star openers we’ve talked about. Nothing we’ve said, or even what flameZ himself said, means he can’t be an opener. It just means he doesn’t need to be one right now.
Could Vitality still win a lot if they made flameZ more of a star player? Probably.
Similarly, could teams like MOUZ, FURIA, or Aurora still do well if they didn’t rely so much on opening kills from players like xertioN, YEKINDAR, or XANTARES? It’s hard to say.
For now, flameZ is one of the most unselfish players at the highest level of Counter-Strike. He’s a true old-school entry fragger who is just as happy dying to get important information as he is getting the two kills that win the round. It’s a role that doesn’t always get noticed but has a huge impact, even without getting many kills. This is something that most viewers might miss when they compare it to donk’s high kill counts.
The main difference, though, is that if donk, xertioN, or XANTARES don’t get kills, they have much less impact on the game than a flameZ who doesn’t get kills. And that’s where flameZ truly stands out.
