Top 20 Players of MW2: #18 Insight

The #18 player of the Modern Warfare 2 season brought to you by Thunder Pick is the European Iron Boots, Jamie “Insight” Craven. Jamie returns to the Top 20 after coming in 5th during his rookie year.

Jamie broke into the scene during Cold War, winning a championship with the Ultra, winning Rookie of the Year, and was the 5th best player of the year. Insight had an off-season during Vanguard but returned to form during Modern Warfare 2. He is one of the most impactful ARs in Seach & Destroy while playing an anchor objective role in the respawns. Without his dependable play this past season, Toronto wouldn’t have been able to compete against the best all season and win Major 3 in Texas.

Season Review

The Toronto Ultra experienced a tumultuous season in Vanguard, characterized by a victory in the Pro-AM Classic but a series of underwhelming performances. They fell short of their previous success in Cold War, prompting changes in the starting lineup as they entered Modern Warfare 2. Toronto welcomed Thomas "Scrappy" Ernst from their academy team and Eli "Standy" Bentz to complete their roster, positioning themselves as a strong dark horse team capable of challenging the top contenders.

The season commenced with a 3-1 qualification for the first Major, securing the team the 2nd seed. They progressed to the bracket stage but faced an early exit, finishing in the top 4. They rebounded with a 4-1 record in the second qualification stage, boasting a 13-5 map count with their only loss to OpTic Texas. However, at the Major, the Ultra encountered back-to-back 0-3 losses to Atlanta and LAT, concluding the tournament with a top 6 finish. Internal tensions emerged, leading to the removal of Standy in favor of academy player Charlie "Hicksy" Hicks, a risky move that paid off immediately.

The roster change injected new energy into the team, propelling them to secure the 3rd seed for the Major. CleanX and the revamped Ultra overcame New York, Boston, and Atlanta on their journey to the Grand Finals, where they faced Texas. The transformed Ultra emerged victorious, clinching their first major of the season with a 4-2 victory over OpTic. However, the rest of the season had its challenges, starting with a rocky Stage 4, where they posted a 1-4 record in qualifiers and finished in the top 6 at Major 4. Moving into the final stage of the season, Toronto rebounded, securing a 4th-place finish with wins over New York and LAT. To contend for the championship ring, they needed to step up at Champs.

As they entered Champs, the Ultra remained one of the favorites for a deep run in the competition. They wasted no time, defeating LAT, Atlanta, and New York, paving their way to the Grand Finals. New York made a comeback against Atlanta, setting up a rematch with Toronto in the Finals. Regrettably, the Subliners proved too formidable for the Ultra, swiftly winning the series 5-0 to be crowned World Champions. Despite the ultimate defeat, the season was undeniably a major success for Toronto, setting the stage for another promising season in 2024.

How good was Insight in 2023?

Hardpoint
Insight was a key player in Hardpoint for the Ultra, even if some of the statistics don’t jump off the page. He finished with a 1.00 KD in Hardpoint for the season with per 10-minute data of 19.1 kills, 2418.3 damage, and just 45.6 engagements. None of those were strong for ARs in MW3, but he did contribute 78.0 seconds of hill time per 10 minutes and had the 2nd highest non-traded kill percentage (77.3%) in the CDL. With the team having aggressive slayers, Insight just had to be efficient and do the bulk of the objective work. He did both jobs well, giving the Ultra a consistent backline wall that was hard to break down.

Insight’s best form of play in Hardpoint came during the online qualifiers. During MW2, Insight finished with a 1.02 KD playing online, improving key stats Kp10M (19.4), HTp10M (80.5), and non-traded kill percentage (78.3%, #1 in CDL) when compared against his season totals. Jamie’s best stage of the season was during the 2nd leg. He finished with season-highs in KD (1.13), Kp10M (20.0), NTK% (82.2%, #1 in CDL), and more during the complete stage. His damage per life also ranked 3rd in the CDL at 144.18, showing that while his per 10-minute damage was low he was still making an impact each life.

SnD
Since Insight entered the League during the 2021 Cold War season, he has been known for very strong SND play due to his clutch ability and deadly accuracy with the sniper rifle. Insight ended with just a 0.98 KD in SND with 0.64 kills per round and 93.3 ADR. He wasn’t at the top of his form in the mode over the entire season but still had his signature traits. Jamie adds the 2nd-most clutches in the CDL (17) and 2nd-most 1v1 clutch wins (11). The sniper role was split with Scrappy, but Insight still finished with 27 total snipes, ranking 10th in the CDL. The first stage of the season was his best stage of the year, having with team-highs in KD (1.25), opening duel win percentage (50.0%), kills per round (0.77), ADR (104.8), and clutches won (3, 2 1v2s). If Insight starts the next season in the same form and can continue that throughout the year, he’ll be one of the most impactful ARs in the CDL yet again.

The Ultra’s weakest mode as a team was easily Search & Destroy. The squad finished with a 32-31 record over Modern Warfare 2 in the mode, with just a 14-16 record online compared to 18-15 on LAN. They couldn’t find a dominant map that they could rely on, having their best records on rarely played maps Mercado (5-2) and Fortress (6-4). Insight was significantly better in the LAN matches, having a 1.03 KD at Majors compared to 0.93 in the qualifiers. On LAN, Jamie tried for the most clutches in the CDL with 10 while having 95.8 ADR and 0.66 kills per round. If Insight’s online form in SnD improves in MW3 with the departure of sound EQ the Ultra should improve to be one of the best SND teams in the CDL.

Control
The best mode of the season for Insight was Control. The Star AR finished with a 1.08 overall KD over the entire season, with a 0.94 on the attacking side compared to 1.27 on the defending side. Jamie finished with per 10-minute data of 15.6 kills, 2001.75 damage, and 35.5 engagements, which all ranked low in the CDL. His strengths were the 2nd lowest deaths per 10 minutes (14.4), and high non-traded kill percentage (78.4%) while capturing 2.7 ticks per attacking rounds. Through each stage of the season, Insight was very consistent in Control, having a 1.09 KD or higher in four of the five major stages and at Champs. His best stage individually was during Stage 2, where he had a 1.13 KD. Insight finished with a team-high 1.15 KD on the attacking side with 2.4 tick captures per attacking round to help the Ultra have a perfect 5-0 record in the qualifiers but go 0-3 at the Major.

Over the course of the entire season, Toronto were the best team in Control online but couldn’t piece it together consistently enough at LAN. The Ultra finished the year with a 35-14 record in the mode but only went 15-10 at the LAN Majors compared to 20-4 during the online qualifiers. Their struggles on LAN were evident at Major 2 (0-3) but they did do well at both Major 5 (3-1) and Major 3 (4-1). The team was also widely regarded as the best Hotel Control team, going 18-5 for the season on the map. Even though the team had more success online, Insight actually played better online. He was more aggressive, having 36.2 engagements per 10 at LAN compared to 34.7 online. Insight finished the year with a 1.09 KD, 1.24 KD on the defensive side, 78.0% non-traded kill percentage, and 3.1 ticks captured per attacking round during Toronto’s LAN play. If Toronto’s full form translated from online to LAN as a team, they’d become an even scarier team to face in the bracket.

A look ahead to Modern Warfare 3

The Ultra opted for a starting roster alteration as they headed into the upcoming season, releasing Hicksy for Dylan "Envoy" Hannon from the LA Thieves. While some fans raised questions about this move, it ultimately addresses Toronto's needs. Envoy brings consistent slaying ability to the second SMG role and excels in all game modes. His versatility will complement Tobias "CleanX" Juul Jønsson, their other SMG player, exceptionally well. For Insight, this lineup opens the door to competing for championships in every tournament and should take pressure off of him to slay and be a playmaker in SnD. The new squad is undoubtedly one to keep an eye on as we head into Modern Warfare 3.