IEM Sydney has come to a conclusion, as has its associated Fantasy game, which we will be recapping by taking a look at the best-performing players and teams of the HLTV Fantasy League by BUFF.bet.

Liquid triumphed in Sydney on Sunday, finally breaking the team's Big event curse, one that had persisted for far too long. To noone's surprise, Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken copped the tournament MVP title, and those that had selected the 19-year-old in their Fantasy pick definitely reaped rewards off the back of this decision.

Twistzz proved to be an outstanding Fantasy pick at 242 points

One of the most upsetting factors for Fantasy players over the course of Sydney was the unfortunate absence of Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač from FaZe, as the Bosnian national experienced visa issues that prevented him from performing for his team. Those that committed $240,000 of their aggregate funds to this pick definitely felt the sting, as the player was substituted by Janko "⁠YNk⁠" Paunović, who understandably fell short of the expectations set out for NiKo.

For those wondering which lineup of players yielded the most Money Draft points without assigned roles, the optimal selection would have been Twistzz, Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David, David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský, Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip and Dennis "⁠dennis⁠" Edman. As for an optimised squad with assigned roles, Twistzz as headshot machine, coldzera as attacker, Stewie2K as leader, frozen as support and dennis as defender would have yielded an impressive 1081 points.

Below is a top 10 list of the most effective player picks from IEM Sydney:

1. Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken - 242 points
2. Vincent "⁠Brehze⁠" Cayonte - 219 points
3. Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David - 211 points
4. Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic - 196 points
5. David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský - 176 points
6. Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski - 174 points
7. Ethan "⁠Ethan⁠" Arnold - 172 points
8. Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip - 164 points
9. Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool - 154 points
10. Patrik "⁠f0rest⁠" Lindberg - 141 points

Apparently, the key to success in the Sydney Fantasy game was selecting the combination of Twistzz and ropz, a duo present in the majority of top-placed fantasy picks. While Twistzz was definitely a winning pick, many underestimated the value of Brehze, who netted a total of 219 points without bonus.

HLTV League by BUFF.bet winner (Money Draft):

1. kr3ssy (1039)

In second place was user AJRAJR123, just 10 points behind the subsequent winner, kr3ssy. The leader of the winning team will receive a skin of personal choice, worth up to $100 on BitSkins.

Stay tuned for news regarding upcoming tournaments which will be featured in the HLTV Fantasy game.

Marcelo 'coldzera' David Age: 24 Team: MIBR Rating 1.0: 1.20 Maps played: 998 KPR: 0.80 DPR: 0.61 Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski Age: 21 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1037 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.69 Robin 'ropz' Kool Age: 19 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 530 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.62 Keith 'NAF' Markovic Age: 21 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 999 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.64 David 'frozen' Čerňanský Age: 16 Team: MOUZ Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 607 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.66 Ethan 'Ethan' Arnold Age: 19 Team: NRG Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 637 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.67 Vincent 'Brehze' Cayonte Age: 20 Team: NRG Rating 1.0: 1.12 Maps played: 691 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.67 Janko 'YNk' Paunović Age: 26 Team: FaZeC Liquid #2 Nick 'nitr0' CannellaKeith 'NAF' MarkovicJonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiJake 'Stewie2K' YipRussel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Dennis 'dennis' Edman Age: 28 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 953 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.68 Russel 'Twistzz' Van Dulken Age: 19 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 784 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.63 FaZe #4 Nikola 'NiKo' KovačDauren 'AdreN' KystaubayevOlof 'olofmeister' KajbjerLadislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsHåvard 'rain' Nygaard Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg Age: 30 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 1518 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.65 Jake 'Stewie2K' Yip Age: 21 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 963 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.69 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 22 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.18 Maps played: 1046 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.67