"Pros' perspectives" is a new feature series which sees a variety of well known past and present Counter-Strike professionals all giving their answer to a single question. In this third edition find out which tactician stands out as the best of all time as the pros give their take on Counter-Strike's best ever strat caller.
Question:
Who is the best tactician of all time? 
AdreN:
mTw's 
ave. I can say for sure that mTw deserved their tag. They have invented lots of tricks and tactics that not only we copied =). And this is all thanks to ave (I think)
allen:
walle, he was always so calm and was good at controlling us during the rounds. We made the tactices together though, as a team!
approx:
"I would like to say two names here. The first one, in my opinion, is 
Zeus. Na'Vi's playstyle is amazing and not easy to read. The other Player I would like to name is 
gob b. His way of calling strats is very sharp. He's a smart guy and maybe the best one at calling anti-Strats (like mooN in the old days ;)
B1ad3:
ave and cArn, I can't say they are good, but they are best amongst the others.
bit:
It's hard to say that because you have to play with those players to know how good they are but I really liked how mTw played and fnatic back to 2008, when they started to play so aggressively as T, without many flashs and stuff. So I would say ave and cArn.
bsl:
cArn. I was happy with my career, leading different top teams in different parts of the world to great results for four years. He did it for eight years and achieved better results throughout his period.
cArn:
I can not mention one that sticks out really. ave was great in 2008 and gob b gave mouz an injection they needed when he was leading them. One thing that always confused me is how few leaders there were out there who stayed in that role during their entire career. Way too many gave up the role and I can only think about a few that have been leaders for a long time.
da bears:
moto was always really good but I think that had more to do with his will to win over tactics
dsn:
It's hard to say since I've basically only played with cArn, but I always thought that ave had some great decision making, so it's a tossup.
Edward:
Michael `Kane` Blagin aka NOSE
evolution:
cArn.
face:
It's hard to say. I believe it's RobbaN, even though he hasn't been a tactician all his gaming life, but I feel comfortable playing with him.
fisker:
Very hard question to answer, I haven't played with many tacticians but I thought vilden had very good eyes for the game, tactically, though rounds don't always go the way you want them to. elemeNt had superb skills for reading opponents while playing them, I think that was one of his greater strengths. The game today , however, is a lot more explored and there isn't much left to surprise with. Maybe cArn or 
TaZ? to answer the question hehe :)
gfn:
I would definitely have to say cArn. He basically created a play style that stayed relevant and dominant for so long. It was no longer about slow and steady tactics with perfect flashes. He made it about going as a team and using aim and chemistry to exploit the opposing teams weak points. Being a tactician as well, I have a lot of respect for him.
hooch:
ave
Kapio:
cArn. I didn't have much respect for him in the early days, but after some time I've got to admit, that he is the best of all time. He is that kind of leader you want as a world class player. His teams always played a very confident style, where the players had enough space to show their strengths. He is probably the IGL with the most titles. His teams didn't played genius tactics at first sight, but his style was the most consistent.
lurppis:
This is a tough question to answer due to not having played with basically any other tacticians, so I can only judge them based on having played against them. I think strategically ave's teams (NoA, mTw) were always a step or two ahead of every other team, even if they didn't end up winning. They were the best team at anti-stratting opponents and seemed most effective at shutting down other teams' star players, and adapting to other teams' playing styles which enabled them to do those crazy comebacks we all remember mTw pulling off over the years. He also found a way to make two different lineups extremely effective, as the first mTw team played a lot around Sunde while the second version was more rifle based.
MJE:
It is hard to say, can only judge the in-game leaders that I have played under. I think Galahat was the best in-game leader I have had. We played together in Asylum in 2005-2006.
mysse:
I'd say elemeNt or sNajdan. I mean cArn (no I know cArn is ol skool gangsta) and all these other new dudes are good too but I just give the most respect to those who I've had the chance to play with.
natu:
elemeNt in my opinion. During the time he was at his peak he had some innovative views on how to play the game, he would have aces up his sleeve no matter what playstyle his opponents would be playing with. Not only was he smart with tactics, he also had an incredible way to read situations individually.
NEO:
ave. He made our tactics useless.
niko:
threat combined with zneel. They always come up with small tricky things that other teams steal after one event.
pita:
I have had the honor to play with cArn, who for me is the best in-game leader of all time. The most consistent. But Jumpy is also a guy that has made an big impact in the way of how I play today. I liked Jumpy's tactics because he never took another team's tactics, he made all of his tactics by himself. I remember he toldme that he could sit on the toilet and be getting ideas for tactics.
plastE:
There are many good tacticians, but I don't know them so well so I'll say lurppis. EG became a top team when he joined and beat many top teams at tournaments. I've played with Tomi for a long time and I know he knows everything about Counter-Strike.
Potti:
walle, he had great knowledge about how to play and could adjust to other team's tactics.
Rambo:
I would say Chameleon (Porter). I would LAN at his house before the X3 days and after waking up, he would be up all night with pages of notes showing me all these insane grenade banks and wall shots. He was way ahead of his time. Moto would be a close second because of his strenuous practice schedule and format.
Savage:
alex, ave, cArn. Although they have different styles and implementation, they always allow the players to maximize their strength.
trace:
ArcadioN
XeqtR:
There have been a lot of great in-game leaders, but they all have different ways of leading their team, not necessarily with their sublime tactical approach to the game. Apart from myself I feel vesslan had a lot of great ideas about how to approach the game tactically.
Xp3:
Zeus
Zonic:
Tough question. I think gob b is the best tactican ever when it comes to waypoints within your own team when you attack a bombsite. For example, when you rush B2 on inferno, Fatih was extremely good at making his team-mates run in perfect directions, so you minimize the risk of the CT guys being able to make double frags.
I think cArn was the best when it comes to motivating his team. I think he is a good leader outside the game. What he did with the 2011 lineup at The IEM V European Championship was amazing. He had a "weak" team compared to the former fnatic team, but managed to surprise the whole World. He can put so much confidence into a team that average players play their A game every time.
ave was the best tactical leader when it came to reading the opponents in the middle of a game. We won so many rounds because ave knew how they played, and he was so calm, which gave you the feeling that his plan would make you win the game.
These 3 players are in my book the best tactical leaders in CS history. I've been lucky to have played with two of them, so I also know their weaknesses. The weakness of gob b is that he often gets carried away and if his team-mates don't do what he wants he gets frustrated, which can damage the team. ave's weakness was that he needed to be 110% motivated as a player, and when he wasn't he kind of rushed the tactics and lost all the patience.
cArn's weakness I don't really know, but I think it was that he wasn't as tactical as many people think. He didn't bring up highly advanced tactics, where you throw exact flashes etc. But correct me if I'm wrong. That was the picture we had of fnatic back when I played for mTw.
Pros' perspectives will return soon with another edition, as the panel of former and present day pros give their take on another of CS history's big questions.
