HLTV 2024 Best Player TOP1: Donk
In his first-team rookie year, Danil Kryshkovets | Donk has climbed to the top of the Top 20 players list with his conquering statistics and record-breaking peak performances.
Donk made his debut in a top-tier tournament at the age of 17 with a god-level performance, topping the 2024 Top 20 player list.
The Russian talent's numbers are unmatched. He led the year-round rating (1.36) with near-absurd firepower, and led both sides in rating (1.37 T-side, 1.34 CT-side), 0.91 KPR, 96.1 ADR, 25% multi-kill rounds, and 55.1% kill rounds.
No one could match Donk 's impact in round wins, which shows how he led Spirit to great success. He averaged 1.24 kills per round win, a staggering 0.13 difference from second place ZywOo , 122.4 damage per round, 12 more than second place EliGE , and had a kill in 69.5% of round wins.
He maintained that level at the biggest events, and thanks to his incredible peak performances at IEM Katowice and the Shanghai Major, his rating (1.44) improved in Elite and Elite+ events even after a poor performance in Cologne.
Donk also performed well under pressure, becoming the second-best Arena player behind m0NESY (1.31), and also performed well in key big games (1.26). His performance dropped slightly in the elimination games (1.23), but he still tied with two competitors for second best performance against top five teams (1.22) and second best performance against top ten teams (1.27).
This led to him winning MVP awards at multiple major tournaments, including two Super Premier events and the BLAST Premier Spring Finals, as well as two MVPs at the BB Villa Cup. He also received three EVPs at events such as the PGL Copenhagen Major, EPL S20, and the BLAST Premier World Finals.
While Donk is not as consistent as his competitors, his high death rate, especially in the opening rounds, shows his inconsistency, which is why he has received fewer "big event" awards than other candidates (because Spirit sometimes skips some events). However, this did not stop him from being the Player of the Year, as his performances at his peak are unmatched, proving that when he is at his best, few can match him.
As is his usual calm style, Donk said in an interview with HLTV that individual honors are not his main pursuit. "I don't care," he said about his feelings when he entered the HLTV Top 20, "Of course it's nice, but it's not my main goal. What I want is to win as a team and stand on the top of the team."
