Players

Raf Mesotten

CraftyRaf

Belgium Team Belgium Master BGA profile AMZ profile

Against the AMZ bots: King 1–0.

Belgian champion Carcassonne 2025 (live) and 2026 (online), online runner-up in 2024 and live runner-up in 2022. Bronze medallist at the Carcassonne World Championship 2025 and semi-finalist of the online Carcassonne event at the Mind Sports Olympiad 2023.

Did you know? CraftyRaf published several chess courses on Chessable. His course The Checkmate Patterns Manual won a bronze medal for course of the year 2020 and became one of the most popular courses on the platform, with over 5,000 students.

Bio

Raf Mesotten, known online as CraftyRaf, is a Belgian champion (2025) and Belgian online champion (2026), and ranks 1st in the Belgian ranking. CraftyRaf has played 8 editions of the live Belgian Championship since 2016.

CraftyRaf has represented Belgium at the World Championship once, finishing 3rd in 2025. Since 2022, CraftyRaf has played 49 international matches for Belgium and won 33 (67%). On Board Game Arena, CraftyRaf has played 6,380 rated games, with a peak rating of 749.

Honours

1 Belgian title, 1 online title, 1 runner-up finish and 1 World Championship appearance stand out in CraftyRaf's record.

Year	Tournament	Result
2026	Belgian Carcassonne Online Championship	Champion
2025	Belgian Championship (live)	Champion
2025	World Championship	3rd of 52 (bronze, equalling the best Belgian result)
2025	Belgian Carcassonne Online Championship	Runner-up
2024	Belgian Carcassonne Online Championship	Runner-up
2023	Belgian Carcassonne Online Championship	3rd
2022	Belgian Championship (live)	Runner-up

Played: 8 editions of the live Belgian Championship and 5 editions of the online championship (best: champion in 2026).

Key figures

Measure	Value
Belgian ranking	1st (602 points, ranking rating 2102)
Head-to-head rating	1st (1760, peak 1793 on 6 Jan 2026)
Head-to-head matches	340: 238 won, 86 lost, 16 drawn (70% won)
BGA rating	595 (peak 749)
Rated BGA games	6,380
International matches for Belgium	49 (33 won, 16 lost)

National team

CraftyRaf has won 21 of 33 matches at official team championships and is the 4th most-capped of 21 Belgian players.

Tournament	Won–lost	Highlights
WTCOC 2026	6–1	Wins against Chile, Brazil and Colombia and 3 more
ETCOC 2026	3–1	Wins against Ukraine, Croatia and Greece
WTCOC 2025	2–1	Wins against Taiwan and Tutejsyja
ETCOC 2025	3–2	Wins against Spain, UK and Czech Republic
WTCOC 2024	2–3	Wins against Peru and Vietnam
ETCOC 2023	2–1	Wins against Portugal and RCP
WTCOC 2022	3–3	Wins against Hong Kong, Catalonia and China

In friendly internationals the record is 12–4. Highest score for Belgium: 337 points, against Germany (a friendly).

Rivalries

CraftyRaf's most frequent opponent is Nicedicer (21 matches, 17–3–1).

Opponent	Matches	Won–lost–drawn
Nicedicer (Tom De Smedt)	21	17–3–1
N2xU (Nico Wellemans)	17	10–5–2
obiwonder (Johan Nuyts)	15	8–7–0
Learn to fly (Michiel Meire)	14	6–8–0
mobidic (Maud Quaniers)	13	11–2–0
Defdamesdompi (Dominic Reberez)	13	9–3–1
JinaJina (Nicolas Victor)	13	8–5–0
71Knives (Karl Verheyden)	12	4–8–0

Source: Carcassonne Belgium statistics database (Belgian Championship, online championship, league, World Championship and international matches), rankings computed on 12 October 2026. Generated by scripts/generate_player_bios.py.

Team Belgium

50 caps, 34–16 won – lost (68 %), points +493. Debut on 6 April 2022 against France (FR). All caps

Date	Competition	Opponent
11 Oct 2026	ETCOC 2026 1/4 final	DoNotWasteMyTime RCP	Won
Game 1 82 – 103 BGA table Game 2 90 – 75 BGA table Game 3 78 – 74 BGA table Points 250 – 252
11 Oct 2026	ETCOC 2026 Gr.Stage 4	JohnMav Greece (GR)	Won
Game 1 95 – 73 BGA table Game 2 95 – 85 BGA table Points 190 – 158
30 Sep 2026	ETCOC 2026 Gr.Stage 3	inicolae Romania (RO)	Lost
Game 1 81 – 98 BGA table Game 2 88 – 89 BGA table Points 169 – 187
26 Sep 2026	ETCOC 2026 Gr.Stage 2	Bluste Croatia (HR)	Won
Game 1 119 – 114 BGA table Game 2 113 – 113 BGA table Points 232 – 227
21 Sep 2026	ETCOC 2026 Gr.Stage 1	adrear Ukraine (UA)	Won
Game 1 88 – 84 BGA table Game 2 82 – 88 BGA table Game 3 97 – 66 BGA table Points 267 – 238
6 Jun 2026	WTCOC 2026 1/4 final	Littlesmallsmall Hong Kong (HK)	Won
Game 1 110 – 71 BGA table Game 2 104 – 98 BGA table Points 214 – 169
27 May 2026	WTCOC 2026 1/8 final	giulioTm Italy (IT)	Won
Game 1 111 – 76 BGA table Game 2 107 – 109 BGA table Game 3 106 – 74 BGA table Points 324 – 259
20 May 2026	WTCOC 2026 1/16 final	bormar Czech Republic (CZ)	Won · g3 86-86 tie, won on tiebreak
Game 1 109 – 102 BGA table Game 2 78 – 91 BGA table Game 3 86 – 86 BGA table Points 273 – 279
17 May 2026	WTCOC 2026 Gr.Stage 4	portgard Vietnam (VN)	Lost
Game 1 97 – 104 BGA table Game 2 117 – 88 BGA table Game 3 72 – 98 BGA table Points 286 – 290
9 May 2026	WTCOC 2026 Gr.Stage 3	Niosorioc Colombia (CO)	Won
Game 1 100 – 101 BGA table Game 2 121 – 108 BGA table Game 3 88 – 78 BGA table Points 309 – 287
3 May 2026	WTCOC 2026 Gr.Stage 2	Berna1871 Brazil (BR)	Won
Game 1 98 – 93 BGA table Game 2 101 – 100 BGA table Points 199 – 193
13 Apr 2026	WTCOC 2026 Gr.Stage 1	King Mauri Chile (CL)	Won
Game 1 117 – 95 BGA table Game 2 78 – 54 BGA table Points 195 – 149
2 Apr 2026	Friendlies Friendly 46	Merlin_89 Poland (PL)	Lost
Game 1 110 – 99 BGA table Game 2 79 – 85 BGA table Game 3 122 – 133 BGA table Points 311 – 317
17 Mar 2026	Friendlies Friendly 41	dachnick Ukraine (UA)	Won
Game 1 80 – 80 BGA table Game 2 107 – 93 BGA table Points 187 – 173
12 Mar 2026	Friendlies Friendly 40	amasiuncula Croatia (HR)	Won
Game 1 115 – 101 BGA table Game 2 114 – 64 BGA table Points 229 – 165
19 Oct 2025	ETCOC 2025 3rd/4th place	bazilyuk Ukraine (UA)	Lost
Game 1 151 – 112 BGA table Game 2 76 – 108 BGA table Game 3 85 – 98 BGA table Points 312 – 318
19 Oct 2025	ETCOC 2025 1/2 final	71st RCP	Lost
Game 1 119 – 123 BGA table Game 2 83 – 105 BGA table Points 202 – 228
19 Oct 2025	ETCOC 2025 1/4 final	JOnny Czech Republic (CZ)	Won
Game 1 105 – ? BGA table Game 2 117 – ? BGA table Points 222 – 201
18 Oct 2025	ETCOC 2025 Match 3	GeoPiglet UK (GB)	Won · Raf wins by Time
Game 1 1 – ? BGA table Game 2 107 – 121 BGA table Game 3 111 – 92 BGA table Points 219 – 213
18 Oct 2025	ETCOC 2025 Match 2	Kingkelodeon Spain (ES)	Won
Game 1 85 – 97 BGA table Game 2 85 – 79 BGA table Game 3 110 – 102 BGA table Points 280 – 278
21 May 2025	WTCOC 2025 Match 4	amasiuncula Croatia (HR)	Lost
Game 1 95 – 97 BGA table Game 2 95 – 105 BGA table Points 190 – 202
14 May 2025	WTCOC 2025 Match 3	chickabomb Tutejsyja *	Won
Game 1 78 – 74 BGA table Game 2 110 – 123 BGA table Game 3 83 – 71 BGA table Points 271 – 268
27 Apr 2025	WTCOC 2025 Match 1	hydrobaby Taiwan (TW)	Won
Game 1 92 – 87 BGA table Game 2 104 – 116 BGA table Game 3 93 – 87 BGA table Points 289 – 290
2 Apr 2025	Friendlies Friendly 37	Spitki Ukraine (UA)	Lost
Game 1 127 – 142 BGA table Game 2 82 – 64 BGA table Game 3 93 – 126 BGA table Points 302 – 332
17 Mar 2025	Friendlies Friendly 34	G0dfriedvanBouillon The Netherlands (NL)	Won
Game 1 111 – 81 BGA table Game 2 120 – 66 BGA table Points 231 – 147
19 May 2024	WTCOC 2024 Match 5	Nocebo Germany (DD)	Lost
Game 1 62 – 85 BGA table Game 2 72 – 105 BGA table Points 134 – 190
9 May 2024	WTCOC 2024 Match 4	Wolf Ren Vietnam (VN)	Won
Game 1 99 – 91 BGA table Game 2 110 – 63 BGA table Points 209 – 154
2 May 2024	WTCOC 2024 Match 3	viv- France (FR)	Lost
Game 1 83 – 105 BGA table Game 2 85 – 106 BGA table Points 168 – 211
27 Apr 2024	WTCOC 2024 Match 2	tomatoken China (CN)	Lost
Game 1 90 – 96 BGA table Game 2 74 – 91 BGA table Points 164 – 187
21 Apr 2024	WTCOC 2024 Match 1	Eymicienta04 Peru (PE)	Won
Game 1 133 – 103 BGA table Game 2 117 – 85 BGA table Points 250 – 188
11 Apr 2024	Friendlies Friendly 31	AppleG Latvia (LV)	Won
Game 1 111 – 93 BGA table Game 2 114 – 90 BGA table Points 225 – 183
6 Apr 2024	Friendlies Friendly 30	meeme9 China (CN)	Lost
Game 1 66 – 81 BGA table Game 2 96 – 109 BGA table Points 162 – 190
28 Mar 2024	Friendlies Friendly 28	zaharik Ukraine (UA)	Won
Game 1 106 – 91 BGA table Game 2 103 – 105 BGA table Game 3 115 – 106 BGA table Points 324 – 302
28 Oct 2023	ETCOC 2023 Match 3	sergt RCP	Won
Game 1 86 – 89 BGA table Game 2 99 – 96 BGA table Game 3 102 – 82 BGA table Points 287 – 267
28 Oct 2023	ETCOC 2023 Match 2	Paiva Portugal (PT)	Won
Game 1 117 – 111 BGA table Game 2 99 – 82 BGA table Points 216 – 193
28 Oct 2023	ETCOC 2023 Match 1	mtuu Poland (PL)	Lost
Game 1 91 – 92 BGA table Game 2 111 – 106 BGA table Game 3 86 – 109 BGA table Points 288 – 307
21 Jun 2023	Friendlies Friendly 24	pricci Poland (PL)	Won
Game 1 79 – 82 BGA table Game 2 116 – 112 BGA table Game 3 119 – 104 BGA table Points 314 – 298
3 Apr 2023	Friendlies Friendly 22	kostra Germany (DD)	Won
Game 1 107 – 114 BGA table Game 2 119 – 91 BGA table Game 3 111 – 104 BGA table Points 337 – 309
17 Nov 2022	Friendlies Friendly 17	HarveyWH Hungary (HU)	Won
Game 1 134 – 101 BGA table Game 2 66 – 106 BGA table Game 3 105 – 89 BGA table Points 305 – 296
18 Oct 2022	Friendlies Friendly 16	squallus France (FR)	Lost
Game 1 83 – 122 BGA table Game 2 89 – 98 BGA table Points 172 – 220
3 Jul 2022	WTCOC 2022 1/4 final	Secret_Star China (CN)	Won
Game 1 104 – 83 BGA table Game 2 95 – 90 BGA table Points 199 – 173
30 May 2022	WTCOC 2022 Match 5	Random2111 Catalonia (CAT)	Won
Game 1 88 – ? BGA table Game 2 123 – ? BGA table Points 211 – 176
23 May 2022	WTCOC 2022 Match 4	bormar Czech Republic (CZ)	Lost
Game 1 93 – 97 BGA table Game 2 114 – 96 BGA table Game 3 72 – 90 BGA table Points 279 – 283
21 May 2022	WTCOC 2022 Match 3	matthewsung2 Hong Kong (HK)	Won · CraftyRaf wins draw
Game 1 90 – 65 BGA table Game 2 108 – 108 draw BGA table Points 198 – 173
15 May 2022	WTCOC 2022 Match 2	ComplixVandh Mexico (MX)	Lost
Game 1 105 – 117 BGA table Game 2 86 – 94 BGA table Points 191 – 211
3 May 2022	WTCOC 2022 Match 1	szigfrid Hungary (HU)	Lost
Game 1 120 – 112 BGA table Game 2 86 – 109 BGA table Game 3 84 – 97 BGA table Points 290 – 318
28 Apr 2022	Friendlies Friendly 14	mihnea27 Romania (RO)	Won
Game 1 100 – 98 BGA table Game 2 136 – 103 BGA table Points 236 – 201
21 Apr 2022	Friendlies Friendly 13	omendiez Catalonia (CAT)	Won · CraftyRaf wins draw
Game 1 68 – 106 BGA table Game 2 90 – 76 BGA table Game 3 94 – 94 draw BGA table Points 252 – 276
10 Apr 2022	Friendlies Friendly 12	phoebeng Hong Kong (HK)	Won
Game 1 99 – 63 BGA table Game 2 96 – 79 BGA table Points 195 – 142
6 Apr 2022	Friendlies Friendly 11	Dryko France (FR)	Won
Game 1 87 – 99 BGA table Game 2 99 – 97 BGA table Game 3 112 – 100 BGA table Points 298 – 296

Tournaments

Tournament	Place	Points
BCL 2026 Spring ML	3
BCOC 2026	1
WK 2025	3 (BRONS - Evenaart beste Belgische resultaat)	5
BCLC 2025	1	5
BCOC 2025	2
BCLC 2024	9
BCOC 2024	2
BCLC 2023	5	22
BCOC 2023	3
BCLC 2022	2	33
BCOC 2022	10
BCLC 2019	40	16
BCLC 2018	31	18
BCLC 2017	17	21
BCLC 2016	40	17

Ranking breakdown details

Event	Raw	Decay	Points
ETCOC 2026 [Gr.Stage 4] — W vs opp	4	1.00	4.0
ETCOC 2026 [Gr.Stage 3] — L vs opp	0	1.00	0.0
ETCOC 2026 [Gr.Stage 2] — W vs opp	4	1.00	4.0
ETCOC 2026 [Gr.Stage 1] — W vs opp	4	1.00	4.0
WTCOC 2026 [1/4 final] — W vs opp	6	1.00	6.0
WTCOC 2026 [1/8 final] — W vs opp	6	1.00	6.0
WTCOC 2026 [1/16 final] — W vs opp	6	1.00	6.0
WTCOC 2026 [Gr.Stage 4] — L vs opp	0	1.00	0.0
WTCOC 2026 [Gr.Stage 3] — W vs opp	4	1.00	4.0
BCL 2026 Spring ML — rank 3 (ML)	50	1.00	25.0
WTCOC 2026 [Gr.Stage 2] — W vs opp	4	1.00	4.0
WTCOC 2026 [Gr.Stage 1] — W vs opp	4	1.00	4.0
Friendlies [Friendly 46] — L vs opp	0	1.00	0.0
Friendlies [Friendly 41] — W vs opp	2	1.00	2.0
Friendlies [Friendly 40] — W vs opp	2	1.00	2.0
BCOC 2026 — rank 1	100	1.00	75.0
WK 2025 — rank 3/52	96.078431372549	0.85	57.2
ETCOC 2025 [1/4 final] — W vs opp	5	0.85	4.3
ETCOC 2025 [1/2 final] — L vs opp	0	0.85	0.0
ETCOC 2025 [3rd/4th place] — L vs opp	0	0.85	0.0
ETCOC 2025 [Match 2] — W vs opp	4	0.85	3.4
ETCOC 2025 [Match 3] — W vs opp	4	0.85	3.4
WTCOC 2025 [Match 4] — L vs opp	0	0.85	0.0
WTCOC 2025 [Match 3] — W vs opp	4	0.85	3.4
WTCOC 2025 [Match 1] — W vs opp	4	0.85	3.4
Friendlies [Friendly 37] — L vs opp	0	0.85	0.0
Friendlies [Friendly 34] — W vs opp	2	0.85	1.7
BCOC 2025 — rank 2	70	0.85	44.6
BCLC 2025 — rank 1	100	0.85	85.0
WTCOC 2024 [Match 5] — L vs opp	0	0.72	0.0
WTCOC 2024 [Match 4] — W vs opp	4	0.72	2.9
WTCOC 2024 [Match 3] — L vs opp	0	0.72	0.0
WTCOC 2024 [Match 2] — L vs opp	0	0.72	0.0
WTCOC 2024 [Match 1] — W vs opp	4	0.72	2.9
Friendlies [Friendly 31] — W vs opp	2	0.72	1.4
Friendlies [Friendly 30] — L vs opp	0	0.72	0.0
Friendlies [Friendly 28] — W vs opp	2	0.72	1.4
BCOC 2024 — rank 2	70	0.72	37.9
BCLC 2024 — rank 9	8	0.72	5.8
ETCOC 2023 [Match 3] — W vs opp	4	0.61	2.5
ETCOC 2023 [Match 1] — L vs opp	0	0.61	0.0
ETCOC 2023 [Match 2] — W vs opp	4	0.61	2.5
Friendlies [Friendly 24] — W vs opp	2	0.61	1.2
Friendlies [Friendly 22] — W vs opp	2	0.61	1.2
BCOC 2023 — rank 3	50	0.61	23.0
BCLC 2023 — rank 5	25	0.61	15.4
Friendlies [Friendly 17] — W vs opp	2	0.52	1.0
Friendlies [Friendly 16] — L vs opp	0	0.52	0.0
WTCOC 2022 [1/4 final] — W vs opp	6	0.52	3.1
WTCOC 2022 [Match 5] — W vs opp	4	0.52	2.1
WTCOC 2022 [Match 4] — L vs opp	0	0.52	0.0
WTCOC 2022 [Match 3] — W vs opp	4	0.52	2.1
WTCOC 2022 [Match 2] — L vs opp	0	0.52	0.0
WTCOC 2022 [Match 1] — L vs opp	0	0.52	0.0
Friendlies [Friendly 14] — W vs opp	2	0.52	1.0
Friendlies [Friendly 13] — W vs opp	2	0.52	1.0
Friendlies [Friendly 12] — W vs opp	2	0.52	1.0
Friendlies [Friendly 11] — W vs opp	2	0.52	1.0
BCOC 2022 — rank 10	8	0.52	3.1
BCLC 2022 — rank 2	70	0.52	36.5
BCLC 2019 — rank 40	1	0.32	0.3
BCLC 2018 — rank 31	3	0.27	0.8
BCLC 2017 — rank 17	3	0.23	0.7
BCLC 2016 — rank 40	1	0.20	0.2

Recent games

Date	Opponents	Score	Elo
30 Oct 2026	Bluste (111)	93	551 (-6)	table
30 Oct 2026	melnykyaroslav90 (94)	92	557 (-13)	table
30 Oct 2026	Stanislau (75)	119	570 (+8)	table
29 Oct 2026	notnewatthis (89)	97	562 (+13)	table
29 Oct 2026	power_penguin (102)	100	549 (-14)	table
28 Oct 2026	szigfrid (110)	110	563 (-11)	table
27 Oct 2026	jonben9603 (105)	92	574 (-14)	table
26 Oct 2026	johnsunday (96)	124	588 (+5)	table
26 Oct 2026	Smile- (97)	98	583 (+13)	table
26 Oct 2026	Angelosan (95)	96	570 (+9)	table
26 Oct 2026	pavelbrin (1)	0	561 (-10)	table
26 Oct 2026	JohnSalchiJohn (108)	104	571 (-12)	table
26 Oct 2026	nl96be (129)	126	583 (-15)	table
25 Oct 2026	BaggerVance (1)	0	598 (-15)	table
25 Oct 2026	Robarkson (81)	104	613 (+4)	table
25 Oct 2026	Tucanoviski (1)	0	609 (-11)	table
25 Oct 2026	Korshuk Dima (111)	103	620 (-14)	table
25 Oct 2026	guapa2194 (73)	120	634 (+3)	table
25 Oct 2026	viv- (92)	88	631 (-8)	table
25 Oct 2026	Pakshe (95)	122	639 (+9)	table
25 Oct 2026	ohlookcake (101)	119	630 (+11)	table
25 Oct 2026	Angelosan (90)	73	619 (-10)	table
25 Oct 2026	Robarkson (119)	104	629 (-17)	table
25 Oct 2026	jonben9603 (112)	98	646 (-14)	table
25 Oct 2026	Robarkson (76)	94	660 (+3)	table