The HLTV top 20 announcements are coming out every day as we see who has performed well enough to earn themselves one of the top spots in 2024. This is no easy accomplishment, even for Counter-Strike elite players on the best teams in the world. It is about the consistent performance you can put up across the whole year to achieve this and have a chance of being one of the best players in Counter-Strike.
If you have been watching my stream, you will have seen that I did my predictions for who I think the top 20 will be, and as I write this on December 29th, I only got 2/4 correct… at least that is a 50% win rate so far!
On top of the Top 20, the HLTV awards have seen categories added, where they choose the best in each role/position, including coach. Taken from HLTV’s website: “The polls have closed for 2024’s Panel Awards by 1xBet, and ten nominees in each category have been whittled down to three finalists. Our panel, 35 people in total, features 20 representatives from the best teams of 2024, 10 broadcasters, and 5 HLTV staff.”
For each category, they have given us their top 3, and the winner will be decided at the HLTV Awards show in Belgrade on January 11th… so before then, I wanted to weigh in on each of these and give my own top 3!
Anchor of the Year: b1t vs jimpphatt vs zont1x
3rd: zont1x
Spirit had a crazy 2024, starting with the Katowice win and ending with the Shanghai Major win, and zont1x has been super consistent at big events throughout. It was only at Cologne where he dipped below a 1.00 rating, as Spirit finished 13-16th. He has been a solid anchor for the team—reliable most of the time—and even when he is not personally performing well, he can still do what is needed and approach situations logically.
2nd: jimpphatt
MOUZ for sure would’ve wanted and believed they could have achieved more this year, and jimpphatt has been a major reason why this was possible. His lowest rating at a big event was 0.80, while his highs went up to 1.39 at the Esports World Cup and 1.21 at IEM Chengdu. This is one of the reasons why a lot of teams would want to add jimpphatt to their roster in 2025.
1st: b1t
NAVI were the best and most consistent team of 2024, and b1t continues to play a huge role in that. To me, he is by far the best in his role and position right now and can also be the star player if needed. While he does not hit the highs of jimpphatt’s 1.39, b1t was able to achieve high ratings at more events and have a huge impact for NAVI again and again. His lowest rating, 0.87, came at IEM Dallas, where NAVI bombed out in 9-12th place, but he managed to score multiple high ratings at big events ranging from 1.16 to 1.30 across six big events in 2024.
AWPer of the year: m0NESY vs sh1ro vs ZywOo
3rd: sh1ro
A different style of AWP compared to the other finalists here, sh1ro has had some fantastic games and has done exactly what Spirit requires of him again and again. In 2024, at big events, sh1ro used the AWP 38.51% of the time and has been hugely positive for the team outside of their last-place finish in Cologne. Sh1ro was always known as a stable and defensive AWPer, but he has shown more versatility this year and played with more heart and confidence. If he can keep that up in 2025, it would be great to see.
2nd: ZywOo
Using the AWP less than the other finalists by far, ZywOo has only used the AWP for 29.65% of all his kills at big events, but his impact as a player, the way he uses the AWP, and the confidence he shows in it to change games and turn them around for his team are undeniable. Even with sh1ro using it more, ZywOo ends 2024 with a 1.32 rating compared to sh1ro’s 1.15. The impact ZywOo delivered earns him second place for me.
1st: m0NESY
While not the best player in the world this year, he is for sure the best AWPer. The baby GOAT has now become a young GOAT, and the yellow flash is as flashy as ever. He wields the big green 42.38% of the time, more than both sh1ro and ZywOo, and when he does, you know about it. Flashy, stylish, and dominant, he has a lower overall rating than ZywOo, but when you balance the difference in AWP kills and the way m0NESY plays, he earns the number one spot for me.
Opener of the year: Donk vs EliGE vs NiKo
3rd: EliGE
A great third place for EliGE, showing solid impact and higher deaths per round, but overall having a great year despite being on a team that was not a title-contending one. EliGE has an incredibly good work ethic, always willing to learn from others around him, and talks about the POV demos he’s watching and how he understands the game. Give him a better team in 2025, and he could be fighting for the top spots in this category easily.
2nd: NiKo
Known as the greatest rifler of all time for a reason, NiKo finally has a new challenger this year. However, when it comes to his individual head-to-head with donk, NiKo has still, so many times, outplayed him. He has been very similar to EliGE in some stats, but NiKo has gone further in tournaments, lifted trophies, and at times been the sole reason G2 even has a chance of winning games. A solid second place.
1st: Donk
The best rookie we have ever seen in the game. He has broken records, then set new ones. He is the youngest ever Major champion and Major MVP. Donk is unlike any player we have ever seen before and seemingly can open up any bombsite or position. Looking at 2024 big event ratings: EliGE had 1.12, NiKo 1.16, and Donk 1.33… a redonkulous gold!
Closer of the year: b1t vs jimpphatt vs jL
3rd: b1t
Making the top 3 in two categories is super impressive, and we should applaud the headshot machine for making it this far. However, he will only place 3rd in the closer category because, while b1t shows great impact and has solid game sense, his clutch factor just isn’t as high as the other two players.
2nd: jL
Almost taking 1st place, jL had a strong year throughout. He has a better rating for the year and more overall impact than jimpphatt, and he delivered some memorable, insane, and powerful clutches that made the whole world go crazy. I often call rounds like these “jL moments,” and he had a lot of them this year. However, he wasn’t as clutch as someone like jimpphatt. This was a really close call for the top 2, and had he been just a little higher on the clutch rating, I think I would’ve had jL in first place with everything else he has done this year.
1st: jimpphatt
Mr. Clutch, the best individual player from Finland right now, is a modern-day Xyp9x—and that is also who his assistant coach is. Jimpphatt is legit. Despite having a lower overall rating than jL and b1t, his trading is on point, he survives at the right time for the team, and he goes hard on the clutch. There were so many solid clutches this year from young Jimi that often saved MOUZ and enabled them to win important games. This is a key reason why so many of the top teams in the world want him right now, and it will be super interesting to see where he will be playing in 2025.
IGL of the year: Aleksib vs chopper vs karrigan
To start, I want to make a personal note that the IGL of the Year award seems to be heavily based on tournament results and what we see IGLs do. However, I think someone like Fear from Passion deserves an honorable mention for what he did with his team and how he helped them achieve success during the Shanghai Major.
3rd: karrigan
Maybe the greatest IGL of all time—if not, a close second to gla1ve—but that’s a discussion for another article. This wasn’t the best year of karrigan’s career, and it was full of ups and downs as they tried to find their form and fight their way back up. I think what gave karrigan the edge to be nominated here over siuhy or Snax was the fact that siuhy’s tournament wins weren’t at the highest level of prestigious events, and Snax was only active for half the season. On top of that, karrigan’s 2nd place finishes at both Majors—especially the Shanghai Major—and the way he was calling were incredible. A solid 3rd place for the Dane.
2nd: chopper
This was the best year of his career, one he has been grinding toward with Spirit since he joined in 2019. He got the right pieces from the academy roster and became a true leader for the team, working solidly with hally to get everything functioning, even with such a junior roster. Yes, he has donk, but someone has to get them ready and make the right calls, and the Spirit team often praises chopper for this. I finally had the chance to interview chopper during the Shanghai Major and learn more about him. With 1st place finishes at Katowice and the Shanghai Major, this wasn’t the most consistent year with results, but he put himself on the map as a great leader. This 2nd place is very well deserved.
1st: AleksiB
Passed up by teams like G2 and NiP, who seemingly didn’t believe in him or give him enough time to do what he does best, AleksiB took NAVI—without s1mple—to heights no one thought possible. They were the best team of 2024, won the first-ever CS2 Major, and appeared in seven grand finals, winning four trophies. The end of the year at the BLAST World Final and Perfect World Shanghai Major was disappointing, but this could be attributed to fatigue within the team. Overall, AleksiB proved the haters wrong, won the hearts of many, and deservedly earned the trophy for Best IGL of 2024. I can’t wait to see, with some time to rest and recover, how he and B1ad3 can mastermind their way to more success in 2025. If it doesn’t happen in 2025, then we will likely see changes in the NAVI camp.
Coach of the year: B1ad3 vs hally vs syncrone
Another award by HLTV, based on achievements and what we can observe from the outside within the teams, is Coach of the Year. Personally, I would have chosen my top 3 as B1ad3, hally, and TaZ, but you can certainly argue for sycrone with what he has achieved with MOUZ. There’s even an honorable mention for kane, in the same way I mentioned Fear from Passion UA.
3rd: sycrone
An impressive year, sticking with brollan and making him better than we had seen him in recent years, and working alongside the legendary Xyp9x as assistant coach to continue improving what is a very young team to find success. They only won BB Dycha 2024 and ESL Pro League Season 19, but they were consistently in playoffs and had solid 2nd place finishes at IEM Rio and Chengdu. MOUZ have even started to get over their stage fright. If they can keep their roster as it is for 2025, they have the best foundation to build on and find future success. Sycrone can be very proud of what he has accomplished. Just three years ago, in 2021, he was still playing with Tricked. Now, he’s coaching one of the very best teams in the world, having risen from an academy league project to the main team. Good stuff, sycrone!
2nd: hally
We don’t get to hear much from hally in English, but he is a commanding coach with a great eye for the game. You can see how he controls the team and the plan he has laid out. If you haven’t watched the Team Spirit vlog from the Major here, you should—it gives great insight into Coach hally. He even had to step in as a stand-in during BLAST when the team was dealing with visa issues. Hally and Spirit won four trophies, three of them at S-tier events, including the Perfect World Shanghai Major. The fourth was the BB Dacha Belgrade Season 2 event, which doesn’t carry much weight but is still a win. Spirit is heading into 2025 with the same roster and looking very strong and intimidating to the competition. Let’s see what hally can achieve next, riding the momentum of a Major-winning boost!
1st: B1ad3
To me—and yes, I’m biased—he is the greatest coach of all time. Yes, Zonic has more Majors, but B1ad3 has done it in a very different way, working across two languages and taking one roster internationally with players no one thought could lift a trophy—especially without s1mple. B1ad3 has his system, and that system is gold if you can get players to buy into it and believe in it. That’s exactly what he and Aleksi managed to do, which is why NAVI ends 2024 as the best team in the world. B1ad3 exceeded even his own expectations when they won the Major. After that, things got tough, but the team bounced back, reset, and went on to reach seven grand finals in 2024, winning four trophies. They were the most consistent team by far but ultimately suffered from success, with less practice time and fatigue affecting their performance. This explains the disappointing results at the BLAST World Final and Perfect World Shanghai Major. However, NAVI and B1ad3 end the year with first-place finishes at the PGL Copenhagen Major, Esports World Cup, ESL Pro League Season 20, and Intel Extreme Masters Rio, as well as second-place finishes at the BLAST Premier Spring Final, Intel Extreme Masters Cologne, and BLAST Premier Fall Final. That’s why he is the best coach of 2024—and it’s not even close.
There you have it, my HLTV Award top 3s for all the categories that will be announced live on January 11th, 2024, at the award show. I’ll be attending and hoping to win the Talent of the Year award. I came 2nd last year, with SPUNJ winning it, and me, SPUNJ, and Scrawny are nominated again this year. Let’s see how it goes!
Let me know what you think of my predictions—which ones you agree with or don’t—and let’s see how the HLTV panel of experts voted on the 11th!
Happy New Year, and enjoy the next amazing season of Counter-Strike starting soon with the BLAST Bounty! GG!
