Our predictions continue with a closer look into the Panel Awards. The Panel Awards are based on votes from a panel of thirty-five icons throughout the Counter-Strike scene and focus specifically on creating an all-star team of the year, with six of the awards being given to roles. The final award is equally fun and is given to the best highlight of the year. Without further ado, here are our predictions for the Panel Awards at the HLTV Awards Show 2024.
This is the second part of a prediction series and you’ll find our previous predictions for the Community Awards here.
Contents [show]
Anchor of the Year – Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy
The first award is for “Anchor of the Year”, rewarding those players who are often put in tricky positions on the CT side. The nominees are Natus Vincere’s Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy, who only moved to full-time anchor roles a few years ago and had an excellent 2024, Finish youngster Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo, who despite his age, is calm and composed when left alone on a site and Ukrainian rookie Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia, who had a superb breakout year with Spirit playing in some of the trickiest roles and hardest sites in the game. Our vote, however, goes to b1t, with Counter-Strike’s headshot machine’s anchoring abilities being a vital part of Natus Vincere’s four title wins in 2024, including his second Major in Copenhagen.
AWPer of the Year – Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov
Next up is “AWPer of the Year” and despite initial skepticism, the AWP is still powerful in CS2. The three nominees are the big three snipers in Counter-Strike Esports at the moment – Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov, Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov. The first is sh1ro, whose move to Spirit from Cloud9, initially came as a shock but boy did it pay off. With Spirit, sh1ro has won four titles in 2024, including Katowice and the Perfect World Shanghai Major to end the year. His sniping and specifically consistent clutches with the AWP in hand helped propel his team of youngsters to trophies. Three-time number-one player ZywOo features on the nominee’s list, who again, had a great year, despite Vitality’s shortcomings in 2024. Even in a down year, ZywOo maintained his high level and was a key reason for their sole victory, coming at IEM Cologne of all places. Our pick for the best AWPer though is m0NESY, who, at just 19, has established himself as the best sniper in the world. His quick flicks and relentless highlights make him a joy to watch, with 2024 seeing him eclipse Nikola “NiKo” Kovač as G2’s star player.
Opener of the Year – Danil “donk” Kryshkovets
The next award, “Opener of the Year”, seems to be an obvious one, with 2024 being the year of Danil “donk” Kryshkovets. However, let’s talk about the other two nominees first. Jonathan “EliGE” Jablonowski quietly had a great 2024, being a shining star in a less than competitive Complexity roster, performances that may net him a long-awaited move to Europe, only time will tell. The now Falcons star Nikola “NiKo” Kovač was again spectacular in 2024 but in his three event wins, he failed to win an MVP, demonstrating the prowess of m0NESY. Our pick for the winner, however, to nobody’s surprise is donk, who had an astonishing rookie year in 2024. He started the year with a bang in Katowice, averaging a 1.70 rating on his way to the MVP award and finished the year with his first Major victory and MVP award. We excitedly await what is next for the youthful Russian rifling star!
Closer of the Year – Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo
The award for “Closer of the Year” features two of the same nominations as “Anchor of the Year”, with the calmness and composure needed for anchoring very much being applicable to clutching. The nominees are Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy, who we awarded the “Anchor of the Year”, Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo and Major MVP winner Justinas “jL” Lekavicius. We have already touched on b1t, who had a great 2024 but his teammate jL had an equally impressive year. Since moving to Natus Vincere, the Lithuanian has gained unparalleled confidence and his aggressive lurks and spectacular clutches have more than earned him a spot inside the top three. Our pick of the litter, however, is Jimpphat, who shone brightest of all in our opinion when it comes to clutching. The 18-year-old is ice cold in the clutch, winning 55 clutches across the year, helped only by the fact the “Clutch Minister” himself, Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth is his assistant coach.
IGL of the Year – Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov
“IGL of the Year” is a tough one as what an IGL does exactly is hard to quantify, with it often boiling down to simply what the team has won in that respective year. The nominees for 2024 are Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov and Finn “karrigan” Andersen. First off, while arguably the greatest IGL of all time, karrigan was not the best IGL in the world this year, winning only one event – IEM Chengdu 2024 and coming up second best in both Major finals. The fight is between Aleksib and chopper, who both had incredible years. Both IGLs won a Major tournament and while Aleksib’s side were probably more consistent over the year, reaching six consecutive finals, we are going to give the award to chopper. The 27-year-old guided his incredibly young and inexperienced side to victory not only at a Major in Shanghai but also Katowice to start the year.
Coach of the Year – Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy
Similarly to “IGL of the Year”, the award for “Coach of the Year” is hard to assess. The nominees are Natus Vincere’s Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy, who won the award both in 2021 and 2022, Sergey “hally” Shavaev from Spirit and Dennis “sycrone” Nielsen from MOUZ. Both hally and sycrone were graduates from their team’s academies – Spirit Academy and MOUZ NXT respectively and have both played integral roles in building their teams. The academy pathway is a vital part of both squads, with Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás, Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek, Dorian “xertioN” Berman, Jimpphat, donk and Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotia all coming through the ranks to the main team. Coaches who have experienced the same pathway are vital in bedding in these players, making them feel comfortable and helping them perform to their highest levels. With all that said, it is still Blad3 who wins the award for 2024 for us. Already an incredibly decorated coach, 2024 was the year where Blad3 further bulked up his already full résumé. He showed he could still win with an international side and that was by getting the best out of players like Mihai “iM” Ivan and jL which powered Natus Vincere to four trophies in 2024.
All-Star Team of the Year
With all the awards dished out, here is our “All-Star Team of the Year”, do you think this team could win the upcoming BLAST.tv Austin Major in 2025?
- Jimi “Jimpphat” Salo
- Leonid “chopper” Vishnyakov
- Danil “donk” Kryshkovets
- Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy
- Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov
- Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy (Coach)
Image credits: Viola Schuldner, Helena Kristiansson, ESL FACEIT Group
