1. Don't make the nickname longer than 12 letters! I think you can agree that nicknames like "TheUltimateDragonSlayerOfDoomness" or "Maiketatarevegelteren" don't look good on the screen, they are hard to read and to pronounce, so almost all people will end up having troubles reading your nickname and calling you just with the first 3 letter or just saying: "Hey, the guy with the long nickname?" (It has happened to me couple of times and it's very annoying)

2.Don't make a big mixture of small and capital letters! I'm pretty sure you can find out by yourselves what looks better: "ElEmEnTaLl" / "EleMenTaL" / "ElementaL" / "Elemental'. You see right? The first 2 look awful. It is typical only for little kids and clueless tryhards to use such a mixture of small and capital letters. The last 2 variations are acceptable and both look good, but I would still suggest using the last one with capital letter at the beginning or reverse: "elementaL" - also looks great and clean. You can also use something like: "eLEMENTAL" / "eLemental" etc but be careful so it doesn't become too mixed again.

3. Do never ever use ( ) [] { } _ - ` @ in or before/after your nickname! Seriously though?! Take a look at this: " ``{{_[[//~//The_Slayer\~\\]]_}} ``" O_o Yeah, I have really seen this sh*t couple of months ago..... Just don't use these symbols no matter how "cool" you think they make you, no they do not!

4. Don't use the words "GOD" "KING" "JESUS" "PRINCE" "MOnSTER" "BEAST" "BICEPS" in your nickname! It's doesn't look good on all nicknames, nor are you that good to use them... It's true that some professionals use "Jesus" or "GOD" but they are the best at what they do, so when a scrub puts something like this on his nickname it looks ridiculous. Take a look at this: "StrykeerJESUS - who is 3-17 in a casual server and lags like hell...:D" (I hope you understand the irony)

5. Don't use numbers as letters or add birth date! This is f***g ridiculous. "2534K3R" Did you understand this nickname? Yeah, it's "SPEAKER". Look how awful it looks + it's hard to understand. No, it doesn't make the nickname "smart", it makes it annoying. If you wanna do it after all I recommend maximum 1 number as a letter and not in all cases. Also, don't write the year you are born after the nickname. Why do people do this actually? For example a good nickname like "Damien" can only be ruined by something like "Damien89" or "Damien242566" :D The only case when I actually like such a thing is by a semi-pro friend who puts 123 after his nickname from time to time: For example "inertt123" - If you are a very good player it really does make it kinda cooler, but if you are a beginner please don't do it.

6. Avoid fake epicness! Don't try to make your nickname look epic using words. In most of the cases, the epicness of a nickname comes from the way it sounds, not from what actually is written. For example "EpicOneClicker"/ "UltimateDragonSlayer" / "DivineTombExplorerOfDeath" / "SamuraiNick"... You get the point. Also don't use any sites which make you a nickname because in most of the cases the final result is an abomination :D

7. Avoid overall complexity. The more simple and clear the better! Don't overlook the most simple nicknames by making long and complex ones. The nickname won't give you diversity or skills. I know a lot of very good players who use nicknames like "Pantera" or "SCANDAL" or "bubble". One of the best french CS:GO players has the nickname "Happy"... it looks so badass. You don't need diversity in your nickname, you need diversity in your skills, which will make the simple nickname very badass.

8. Don't add sponsors if you actually don't have! It looks very fake and absurd if your nickname is "Barracuda *STEELSERIES" and at the same time you can't play at all and it's obvious that steelseries don't support your noob ass :D

9. Don't add the word "Pro" anywhere in your nickname. It doesn't matter if you are a pub queen you don't earn money from cs, so don't pretend to be a professional because it's hilarious.

1. Write down your whole real name and try to figure something out! It is a fact that a lot of professional players have came up with their nicknames after looking at their real names. After all, one of the definitions of the word "nickname" is "a shorter and more clear version of your real name". For example, the polish player Paweł "byali" Bieliński. Bielinski >> byali. Or even a more simple example, the famous ukrainian player Yegor "markeloff" Markelov. Markelov >> markeloff.

2. Try to create a nickname that has a sense! If the thing with your name doesn't work, try to find a nickname that has a sense & sound good. The best example I can give is the nickname "EternalEnvy" Holy sh*t it sounds epic :D Another example is a team captain whose nickname is "spyleader". Also sounds good.

3. If neither of those have worked so far, don't give up! Keep up the work or just figure something out that you like, is simple and sounds good. At the end, it's your own nickname and you should be happy with it and feel comfortable.

I want to apologize for any language mistakes. I'm not a native speaker and by trying to explain as best as I can, I probably made a lot of mistakes.
At the end, I will share my personal top 12 nicknames and I wish you again good luck finding the best one for youreselves.

12. dupreeh
11. XBOCT
10. pajkatt
9. KnoxVille
8. SCANDAL
7. shox
6. Damien
5. FAVORITE!
4. Arkhaotix
3. WorldEdit
2. EternalEnvy
1. Element


A guide by: Ivelin 'Yanik' Georgiev