One for the future: donk

The third Russian player and tenth overall to feature in our One for the future series is Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets, a 16-year-old rifler who has been putting up impressive numbers while playing for Spirit Academy.

donk's story begins much the same as a number of other professional players who have risen up before him, almost to a stereotype. His older brother introduced him to CS 1.6 when he was five, and he made the switch to CS:GO after his brother bought the game for him on Steam.

"There wasn't anything special [regarding the switch to CS:GO] as I used to play 1.6 a lot and these two versions looked similar to me," donk explained to HLTV. "I decided to go pro when I realized that I was doing well and getting better with each day. I played 12 hours a day, practically without breaks."

The youngster spent his initial few months grinding FACEIT matches, rapidly progressing from playing just regular pick-up games into playing in Russian FACEIT leagues and ladders, and his immense potential and capabilities, though unrefined, were immediately apparent to a set of experienced eyes. CIS insider Aleksei "⁠OverDrive⁠" Birukov took notice of the youngster early in 2021 while scouting potential new talents — something which he says he does frequently by browsing through matches on FACEIT, ESEA leagues, and qualifiers — with the 37-year-old picking out donk based specifically on what he saw from him in the CIS FACEIT League.

"I watched a few demos of his and called him to play a few qualifiers with me," OverDrive told HLTV. "From the first game, it was crystal clear to understand his extremely high potential. He was 14 years old but thinking in-game like he was 20, and his aiming skills were unique."

That was where the stereotype ended for donk as, unlike many of his peers, he didn't slowly rise up through team-based Counter-Strike, meandering his way through various teams and trying to find teammates who shared his work ethic. Rather, OverDrive passed donk's name on to Spirit after playing some initial matches with him, and the organization's coaching staff offered the youngster the chance to play a few matches for their academy lineup part way through the same year.

His initial appearances for Spirit Academy in a professional environment were middling at best: donk was given the opportunity to play a map or two here and there in events, and his individual form left much to be desired. He averaged a 0.97 rating and 0.63 kills per round in his first 22 maps across seven events, although he admittedly met veteran opposition — including the likes of ENCE and Movistar Riders — in his early matches. "It wasn’t a pleasant experience as I thought that I wasn’t ready for competitive play at that moment," donk admits of his performance in his first games. "I was upset because I felt that I wasn’t showing the level I’m capable of."

Still, the Russian rifler must have had something that stood out to Spirit's coaching stuff, for soon enough he was offered their complete support. After Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov and Pavel "⁠S1ren⁠" Ogloblin were benched ahead of their promotion to Spirit's main roster, donk was offered a full-time position on the academy team in December 2021, and he seized that opportunity by the horns.

He didn't immediately stamp his authority upon signing on to the team, just making a solid impression in his debut WePlay Academy League season by averaging 0.73 KPR and 1.13 rating in his first 11 maps before having an extremely poor series against NAVI Junior in the Play-in. "I [struggled to adapt to playing in a team environment at first]," donk said. "First of all, the level of play was different. People don’t understand obvious things on FACEIT, where I used to play the most, they rarely talk and rarely move around the map. Also, I felt some pressure, I couldn’t focus and give my input due to that."

It was in the season of WePlay Academy that followed where Spirit Academy truly began to click, however, the trio of donk, Artem "⁠ArtFr0st⁠" Kharitonov, and Myroslav "⁠zont1x⁠" Plakhotia combining to power the team to a second-place finish. ArtFr0st and donk were at the forefront of that effort, with the latter starting to find his comfort level in a team environment, and that soon translated into a title victory in 1xBet FRAG Season 9 and spots in FPL-C for the entire team.

donk's aggressive playmaking started to draw eyes, with the Russian rifler comparing his own style to that of Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken, and soon Spirit Academy started consistently achieving better results. Another runner-up finish in WePlay Academy League Season 6 followed, where donk averaged a 1.22 rating, 0.80 KPR, 0.65 DPR, and 1.26 impact over 20 maps, and those kinds of numbers became the norm for him over the course of 2022.

It wasn't in stats or pure skill alone that donk stood out, however, his braggadocious aim doing little in isolation to set him apart from the plethora of plucky young aim stars that are on the rise. Instead, it was his calculated decision-making in key moments and his overall attitude that added immense credit to his short but excellent resume, with word spreading among members of the Eastern European community about just what donk brought to the table.

"Aim-wise and in decisions, he's really good," 1win coach Dmitry "⁠hooch⁠" Bogdanov said when asked about his thoughts on the youngster. "His mechanical skills are really strong, but it's obvious that nowadays a lot of young players have good mechanics. But what I have mentioned with decisions and how confident he is in the hardest moments… he is already ready for the big scene.

"He is quite aggressive, he relies on his aim really hard, but that is what people with good aim and good understanding of the game do. Looking at his numbers and as far as what he can bring to the team overall — of course he's like a prodigy, but it's also important that he has really good teammates and structure behind it."

hooch credited Spirit Academy's coaching staff, specifically Dmitry "⁠S0tF1k⁠" Forostyanko, for helping to aid donk's development, and added that he'd had his own eye on ArtFr0st and zont1x in the past before others told him to look at donk too. "What I've heard from the guys who work with him, I have no doubt that he is going to be a top player, like in the top 20," hooch continued.

"He seems like a really nice person and dedicated guy who spends many hours in the game, so nothing but confidence in this boy. Nowadays players, especially players in Russia, there are some bad attitudes. Some of the people are dead inside, having problems with their heads, talking shit and stuff, meanwhile everyone said that this guy is just a good guy who wants to be the best. I draw the comparison to ZywOo, character-wise, that he just loves the game, loves everything about it, loves spending time in it, loves playing with his teammates. Never heard anything bad about this guy."

While donk's name may have only been on the radar of a few people in 2022 — he only received one Bold Prediction pick, by Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov — he has drawn a lot more eyes in 2023. His impressive numbers and consistent excellence in qualifiers, ESL Challenger League, and online tournaments even reportedly had the most recent Major champions considering him as a possibility for their roster, and it's beyond evident that he should get a call up to the big leagues. How he will perform upon making the full jump up to professional play remains to be seen, however, but donk remains confident in his ability to adapt. "I think I will need some time to get used and adjust to the top-tier level, but overall I think I’m ready," he told HLTV.

The biggest unknown now is how donk will perform on LAN: he does not have a single offline event recorded on HLTV. It's a question that he says exists in his mind too and one that he thinks a lot about. "I had some LAN experience, but it was in my city where the level of play wasn’t high, so I don’t think that counts," donk explains. "I think a lot about how I will play on LAN because I play every match with 90-100 ping, so it will be very interesting to see how I will do on LAN. I’m not too nervous, even the opposite: it motivates me as I feel that LAN play is very fun and interesting."

In a time where AWPers are the ones constantly standing out above the pack, especially in Russia and Eastern Europe, donk deserves all the credit for managing to turn heads not just in Eastern Europe, but across the globe this year. Not succumbing to garnering a large ego or having a negative mentality while impressing with incredible snappy aim and stellar decision-making has helped him truly stand out, and soon, he shall have his calling.

Reports during the off-season have pointed toward Spirit promoting a trio of players from their academy rosters in donk, ArtFr0st, and zont1x to join Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov and Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev, which would see donk make a professional team at a blisteringly fast pace. The added comfort of having two of his fellow academy members alongside him will help add comfort to the steep ramp-up in competition, and it's here that we'll get to see what donk is truly made of. In hooch's words, "I don't want to jinx it, but I think it's just a matter of time until he becomes a top player."

Read through previous installments of the "One for the future" series below:

One for the future: ZywOo
One for the future: CeRq
One for the future: sergej
One for the future: poizon
One for the future: meyern
One for the future: Jamppi
One for the future: sh1ro
One for the future: mhL
One for the future: degster