m0NESY Claims Top Spot in Group Stage of ESL Pro League S22

m0NESY Claims Top Spot in Group Stage of ESL Pro League S22

Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov, the AWPer for Team Falcons, secured the highest player rating during the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 22, posting an impressive 1.42 rating.

In the overall leaderboard for group stage performance, Spinx (Lotan Giladi of MOUZ) took second place, with KSCERATO (Kaike Cerato) and mezii (William Merriman) placing third and fourth, respectively. donk (Danil Kryshkovets) rounded out the top five.

The tournament’s group stage ran from September 27 to October 12 on LAN in Stockholm, Sweden. Teams are competing for a total prize pool of USD 1,000,000, with USD 400,000 allocated to players.

Additional Context & Player Insights

Falcons’ Strategy & Leadership Support

Falcons’ in-game leader kyxsan emphasized that m0NESY has retained considerable freedom in his playstyle:

“We made sure m0NESY understood that he still has this freedom from before.”

This approach seems to pay off: Falcons went 3-0 in the group stage, advancing cleanly into the playoffs.

Meanwhile, coach TeSeS expressed confidence in m0NESY’s ceiling:

“m0NESY is going to have a new, higher ceiling when he finds himself again.”

Inside the Mind of m0NESY

In an interview, m0NESY discussed his teammate kyousuke (Maxim Lukin), offering a nuanced observation:

“Kyousuke can sometimes overpeek against pistols and die. But it’s good that he does this.”

Reflecting on his integration into the roster, m0NESY previously noted that early mistakes are natural and correctable, but that synergy and control are key as a team evolves.

On the leadership side, m0NESY has praised kyxsan’s calling style, drawing comparisons to former greats:

He compared kyxsan’s calling to that of Snax (Janusz Pogorzelski), noting the comfort he feels under this structured environment.

Rivalry & Trash Talk

Not all the attention was positive. During a match vs Astralis, their captain HooXi mocked m0NESY following a missed AWPer shot:

“Jesus Christ, that was a bad miss, Ilya! It cost the round.”

Despite the trash talk, Falcons prevailed in that map, with m0NESY finishing the match with a 37–18 K/D and over 92 ADR (average damage per round).