donk: "This team can go very, very far"

HLTV's second-ever youngest MVP has won both LANs he has attended.

Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets, at 16 years of age, is already making Counter-Strike history. His Spirit side have run out winners at both LANs they have attended since his arrival, first at PARI Dunav LAN party and now against international competition at BetBoom Dacha.

We spoke to the prodigy immediately after the final and the MVP medal being presented to him, asking how it felt to come back from 2-0 down in a gruelling best-of-five, why he shouts so much in-game, and if this is just the first of many individual honours.

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donk named BetBoom Dacha MVP

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Editor's note: This interview was conducted via a translator and adjusted for accuracy by Russian-speaking HLTV staff.

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Congratulations on your first MVP medal. It's the boring question — tell me how it feels.

Incredible. Fucking incredible. It cannot be described. It’s the kind of joy that I cannot really feel because I'm so exhausted.

What about the comeback too? I think you're the first team ever to come back on LAN from 0-2 down to win a best of five. How exhausting was it, your first BO5?

We could have won the first two maps, but there were some mistakes that were avoidable but maybe not obvious at that point. It could have been easier.

On Virtus.pro, you play them so much but you've beaten them in two LAN finals now. What's it like to play against them? Are they like the final boss in the video game?

VP are an incredible team, they have a very unique playstyle that is very hard to counter. Playing against them, every round is hard and exhausting. They make you fight for every round, for every decision you make.

One of the themes of this tournament was that everyone expected you to be crazy in the game, but it's out of game, too. You were shouting at VP, "saving, saving", things like this. How important is it for you to be the one that's shouting?

For me, it’s crucial. I'm trying to shout out all the negativity that I have, to keep positive, and to stay neutral in-game. It also boosts the morale of the team. And it's just fun, I like it.

Have you not lost your voice? It's been a long week.

Most definitely, yes.

There's also the Spirit staff cheering you on; it was really relevant this final — almost every round, you had your hypeman shouting. Can you hear that? Does it give you a boost?

We heard it, and it really helped a lot. It was one of the keys to coming back and winning the series.

I also wanted to ask about the Anubis comeback. You had the zont1x 1v2 clutch; what was going through your mind?

We just knew that our coach had a good game plan. If we executed it like we knew we could, we knew we would win the round and would win the series. I was calm, and we were just following the plan. On the clutch, zont1x is just super smart.

Your impact was relevant as well, I think it was back-to-back double entries in overtime. Were you in a bit of a flow-state? Talk me through that overtime.

I was just fully immersed in the game, eyes only focusing on the crosshair.

Two LANs, two wins. How far can this team go?

Very, very far.

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donk: "I played in tier five dumpster, then in tier three dumpster, and now I'm in tier one"

Is this just the first MVP of many? You told us about the "tier five dumpster." Does it feel different now?

If we continue working like we did before this event, then sure.