HLTV Awards: Panel vote nominees revealed

19-12-2024 21:05

There will be ten options for the expert panel to choose from in Opener, Closer, IGL, AWPer, Anchor, Coach, and Highlight of the Year.

Award season is above us, with voting open for the community awards, and today we are announcing the 10-person nominee lists for the panel awards.

These prizes are voted for by a panel of five HLTV staff, ten broadcasters, and twenty representatives of the best teams of the year.

Assembled together, the awards should create an all-star lineup of the best players of the year in each respective role: AWPer, Opener, Closer, Anchor, and an IGL-Coach combo on the reins.

Our experts will also vote on the Highlight of the Year from a list of ten that were voted on in-house. Without further ado then, here are the nominees for the seven panel award categories:

Voting begins today, while the three finalists for each award will be announced on December 28, and the winners at the HLTV Awards in partnership with 1XBET on January 11.

For more on how players are categorized, and who votes, read the following:

HLTV Awards 2024 panel: Who votes and how it works

AWPer of the year 2024 nominees

Players with more than 0.20 AWP kills per round.

Usukhbayar "⁠910⁠" Banzragch
Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants
Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz
Håkon "⁠hallzerk⁠" Fjærli
Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov
Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov
Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás
Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov
Özgür "⁠woxic⁠" Eker
Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut

Opener of the year 2024 nominees

Players in map control, pack, positions on T side.

Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets
Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski
Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan
Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan
Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa
Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač
Azbayar "⁠Senzu⁠" Munkhbold
Russel "⁠Twistzz⁠" Van Dulken
Ismailcan "⁠XANTARES⁠" Dörtkardeş
Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman

Closer of the year 2024 nominees

Players in extremity, lurk, positions on T side.

Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy
Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin
David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský
Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo
Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius
Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato
Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic
Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz
Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool
Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi

Anchor of the year 2024 nominees

Players in tricky anchor positions on CT side.

Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy
Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan
Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo
Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev
Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa
William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman
Ayush "⁠mzinho⁠" Batbold
Keith "⁠NAF⁠" Markovic
Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool
Myroslav "⁠zont1x⁠" Plakhotia

IGL of the year 2024 nominees

The callers from the top teams of the year.

Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen
Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire
Garidmagnai "⁠bLitz⁠" Byambasuren
Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov
Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali
Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen
Damjan "⁠kyxsan⁠" Stoilkovski
Engin "⁠MAJ3R⁠" Küpeli
Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek
Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski

Coach of the year 2024 nominees

The skippers from the top teams of the year.

Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy
Sezgin "⁠Fabre⁠" Kalaycı
Sergey "⁠hally⁠" Shavaev
Erdenedalai "⁠maaRaa⁠" Bayanbat
Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski
Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha
Dennis "⁠sycrone⁠" Nielsen
Tiaan "⁠T.c⁠" Coertzen
Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas
Rémy "⁠XTQZZZ⁠" Quoniam

Highlight of the year 2024 nominees

The best clips of the year

m0NESY has two clips up for nomination

Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets AK-47 1v5
Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius Deagle + AK-47 ACE
Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato ACE
Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov AWP 4K
Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov Scout 4K
Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa AK-47 1v3 ACE CLUTCH
William "⁠mezii⁠" Merriman AK-47 ACE
Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač Deagle ACE
Felipe "⁠skullz⁠" Medeiros M4A1-S 1v4
Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut AWP 4K

bro get hallzerk outta there

2024-12-19 21:07

288

16 replies

+idisbalanced

2024-12-19 21:11

4 replies

hltv sneaked in hallzerk like we wouldnt notice

2024-12-20 04:35

pls dont bring no name CIS t2 awper into the conversation

2024-12-23 15:49

2 replies

hallzerk isnt t1 either

2024-12-23 17:42

1 reply

woxic is also not t1 either but somehow he’s also nominated. it is what it is man

2024-12-24 04:23

Primary AWPers, with more than 0.20 sniper kills per round. Sniper kills per round: hallzerk 0.27 ZywOo 0.27 HLTV literally lowered the bar to add these two.

2024-12-19 21:24

8 replies

difference being Zywoo obviously had to go somewhere and what other role are you giving him? Hallzerk's just trash

2024-12-19 21:27

m0NESY 0.37 910 0.35 woxic 0.35 torzsi 0.32 sh1ro 0.32 w0nderful 0.29 broky 0.28 device 0.27 hallzerk 0.27 ZywOo 0.27

2024-12-19 21:29

5 replies

Jame 0.37 ADD MY GOAT

2024-12-19 21:30

PS got the numbers from the players' profiles, for some reason they are even lower in the leaderboard

2024-12-19 21:36

which match filter or rank filter is this?

2024-12-20 18:08

2024 lan?

2024-12-20 22:44

no, zywoo has 0.25 on this one

2024-12-21 18:32

FalleN 0.38

2024-12-20 04:55

Hulkzerk winning would be brilliant :D

2024-12-22 00:04

put some respect on top5 player in vertigo 2024 vs top30!

2024-12-26 14:17

Donk top 1

Kyousuke

2024-12-19 23:35

Jimi for best anchor

was in2023?

2024-12-19 21:47

guess b1t retired

2024-12-19 22:09

stopped reading at hallzerk and wonderfool

2024-12-19 21:08

The Ash disrespect to not even be nominated for coach of the year

2024-12-19 21:09

110

? What did GL do ?

2024-12-19 21:23

His consistency in being able to make teams that make the major. Top 16 in this last one with an almost entirely new group from the last. Give me Ash over TC any day

2024-12-19 21:35

I would have loved to include him but in the absence of better 'objective' measures for IGLs/Coaches the decision was made to go off team ranking for the year (Hence Jame in IGL too, even if you can make subjective arguments for MUT or Biguzera) since you're unlikely to win the award from outside of that.

2024-12-19 22:06

MUTIRIS MENTIONED!!! On a serious note, I think it would be cooler to include players like mut/bigu for igl nominee just as a shout. Jame's credit is at an all time low for a reason, and it's pretty clear who is going IGL of the year. IGL/Coach is always a tough position to credit, it is heavily oriented on results and there's some disregard for the pieces they had to achieve said results. For example, Taz/Snax vs Stanislaw or ash himself.

2024-12-20 07:46

what about the rotator of the year

2024-12-21 01:26

My picks: m0NESY NiKo ropz ropz karrigan NiKo

Flair

2024-12-20 06:49

Atleast you're not hiding your delusion

2024-12-20 16:10

Where is Mutiris 1v4?

3 replies

Holy fuck , why didn't they include, it was in arena and against Faze

Maybe because it was 99% snap tap and 1% mutiris?

2024-12-19 21:26

That was fluke of the year

get snax and taz outta there

cCc MAJ3R BEST IGL cCc

Grey squirrels 4 lyfe

2024-12-20 10:09

Just saw all the highlights, donk had the best one IMO. Don't care about these other categories lol

2024-12-19 21:13

Taz ? Snax ? hallzerk ? k

10 nominees per category? lmao and a hallzerk nomination hahahaha wtf

2024-12-19 21:14

m0NESY donk b1t Jimpphat Aleksib B1ad3 donk

fair

2024-12-20 08:19

Same but with niko's deagle ace

2024-12-20 10:34

Yeah i think highlight could be the one id probably change, but there are so many great highlights from this year :D

2024-12-20 11:53

Donk Donk Donk Donk Donk Donk Donk

2024-12-19 21:15

AWPer of the year - m0NESY⁠ Opener - donk Closer - ⁠Jimpphat⁠ Anchor - zont1x⁠ IGL - ⁠Jame⁠ (my goat) Coach - Mark Zimmermann Highlight - m0NESY⁠

2024-12-19 21:16

Timeout of the year - TaZ

2024-12-19 21:17

reported for Jame

2024-12-21 22:37

zywoo donk JL b1t aleksib blade donk 1v5

m0nesy 2 highlights

Compensation for 3rd position

2024-12-19 21:22

meds, m0nesy has #2 on lock, and #1 2025 with a 1.89 austin major mvp

No major no kato no Cologne? No 2nd

2024-12-19 22:00

only 1 trophy? only 2 mvps? no 2nd

2024-12-20 00:12

Trophies and MVP's will only help sort out tight stats. Zywoo clears m0nesy more than enough to compensate.

2024-12-20 03:47

AWPer of the year - m0NESY⁠ Opener - donk Closer - ⁠Jimpphat⁠ Anchor - b1t IGL - ⁠Aleksib Coach - Taz Highlight - m0NESY 4K vs Spirit

Taz lmao kewk nice one

m0nesy donk jimpphat flamez karrigan blad3 donk ez

2024-12-19 21:18

Why didn't m0NESY⁠ 1v5 or 1v3 make the highlights list?

2024-12-19 21:19

6 replies

Wasn't it in pro league?

2024-12-19 21:21

Of those worth including in the list of highlights: m0nesy 1v5 vs Navi Blast World Final m0nesy 1v3 vs Navi EWC GF m0nesy 1v3 vs Ecstatic Copenhagen Major m0nesy 1v3 vs Mouz IEM Chengdu m0nesy 1v3 vs VP IEM Chengdu

2024-12-19 21:48

man, monesy during the first semester of 2024 was unmatchable

2024-12-20 08:20

1v5 won on 15/12/2023

right, I thought because it was too late and didn’t make the list last year

2024-12-19 23:06

Still 1v3 clutch is better than 4k?

2024-12-19 23:07

Mzinho my goat :>

2024-12-19 21:20

wtf is hallzerk doing here instead of degster?

don't worry neither are winning

Degster got visa issues so can't make in the list.

2024-12-19 21:28

It's funny how most of hallzerk's memorable moments this year were on rifle and not AWP, like that 3k with deagle vs NaVi on EPL19 or Ace on Inferno vs Alternate Attax. That speaks volumes for his AWP impact and competence.

2024-12-19 22:30

AWP of the year Device Or Woxic Okay

my predictions AWPer: m0nesy Opener: donk Closer: jL Anchor: Jimpphat (this is the only halfway competitive one though so I could see it going to pretty much any one of the nominees) IGL: aleksib Coach: b1ad3 Highlight: donk ace

I think zont1x has a strong candidature for anchor of the year

2024-12-19 21:46

he could win for sure

2024-12-19 21:52

AWP: ⁠m0NESY⁠ OPENER: donk CLOSER: ⁠Jimpphat⁠ ANCHOR: flameZ⁠ IGL: chopper Coach: hally/TaZ Highlight: donk 1v5

flair flag

2024-12-20 15:10

Degster should be here instead of Device

2024-12-19 21:38

I feel like they should get the top 3 coaches and then announce the winner. After that the 2 other coaches get a nomination under trophies just like the winner would get the award itself under trophies EDIT: Oh I can see you already announce the top 3, so I think it would be super cool if the 2 runner ups still get something to show that they had a good year

2024-12-19 21:45

Highlight: jl deagle ace vs g2

2024-12-19 21:44

biguzera should be nominated on this igl list instead of Jame tbh

there should be drama award as well astralis & deve would be crowned for years

naiko ace >>>

No ASH ????? FOR COACH OF THE YEAR???? BRUUHHHH. NOT COOL. I mean lets not kid ourselves, blade wins but not having ash there and having iquitxz or even half the names instead is blasphemy.

2024-12-19 21:55

WHY SO MANY NOMINEES FOR EACH CATEGORY ALSO L FOR NOT INCLUDING ASH IN COACH

2024-12-19 21:58

TC and Taz in coach of the year and no Ash is wild, what is the qualification? To have good players? like cmon

2024-12-19 21:59

m0nesy donk jL ????? Aleksib b1ad3 don't care Other are pretty no-brainers but naming an anchor is difficult, interested to see the result.

2024-12-19 22:38

I wish ropz/rain 2vs4 was there but clearly, they can nominate 1 player's highlight.

2024-12-19 22:45

Honestly, the highlights fucking sucks

2024-12-19 22:51

why not the mutiris 1v4 against faze in cologne?

2024-12-19 22:54

T.C OVER FUCKING ASH? WHAT, THIS IS A DISGRACE

2024-12-19 22:59

TOP 3: AWPer of the year: mONESY, ZywOo, torzsi Opener of the year: donk, Senzu, xertioN Closer of the Year: ropz, b1t, NertZ Anchor of the Year: b1t, magixx, malbsMd IGL of the Year: siuhy, bLitz, kyxsan Coach of the Year: B1ad3, hally, sycrone.

2024-12-19 23:16

Highlight of the Year: donk: not only clean ACE clutch, but the relevance of the game itself. m0NESY: eco scout show right there and against rifles, nonetheless. NiKo or JL for 3rd.

2024-12-19 23:47

maaraa coach of the year

2024-12-19 23:27

Will be interesting to see the runner ups

2024-12-19 23:30

Awp : 910 Open : FlameZ and Jackz Closer : Naf Anchor : BIT IGL : Kyxsan Coach : Blade Highlight : MEZZI ACE Coldly. 🥶

2024-12-19 23:40

Donk's ace was so clean. I liked niko's ace and 2 m0nesy highlights, the other ones were sick too. Don't know, we were gifted with so many memorable plays this year.

2024-12-19 23:41

this seems insulting to the other nominees there are way too many how are tc and jame here but not rain hltv is too objective at times just looking at statistics they should look at more storylines or how much a team's ranking improved

2024-12-19 23:45

i see magixx but where is rez

2024-12-20 00:00

A truly sad day indeed. The MVP of IEM Babylon BC 54 is not with us today.

2024-12-20 00:27

Users whining about Halzerk can't name a proper good faith top 10 without Halzerk. That being said, there's only 2 AWPs to consider, Monesy and Zywoo. To me Monesy wins, however it seems like a coinflip judging by the answers here. Opener is Donk, and if it is anything other than Donk I think people are going to riot. For the Closer, I'm surprised to see JL here. When i think of a pure extremity player, Spinx and Nertz definitely rank the top there. I guess because he got nominated, JL will win, but If it's based on who the most pure lurk is, then it has to go to Spinx. That Ner0 post a few months back about Anchoring comes in clutch for me, Zontix doing some of the hardest roles and being top rated gives me the confidence he'll win that category. For IGL, there are many ways one could look at this. For playing with the pieces he's got, Blitz definitely is going to be a top contender, but with no tournament wins, it'll more than likely go to one of the top 6 IGLs. Aleksib winning tournaments with the players he has is absolutely incredible. At the start of the year, people were certain this team would win nothing, especially with Aleksib at the helm. With no pure super star unlike most of the other top teams, navi still won 4 tournaments and got top 2 in 6 straight. Aleksib takes that spot. Coach of the year is tough to call, but i think I'll lean towards those teams with no distinguished superstars, that being MOUZ and NaVi. Sycrone has really built quite the lineup, from young prospects to a great band of players, Sycrone has come a long way and has taken the long road to get to the top. Blade has won top tournaments and turned an IGL who was cursed and unable to win anything no matter his team, to winning 4 events. Both turned pieces that were not expected to win Trophies so soon into top contenders for every event. My vote goes to Sycrone. And finally, highlight. A 1v5 at a major happens so rarely, it is likely the 2nd most memorable moment of the year, only behind Ropz jumping AWP. For that, Donk's 1v5 is my vote. TLDR: Monesy Donk Spinx Zontix Aleksib Sycrone Donk's 1v5

2024-12-20 00:08

Dude woke up and decided to write a full essay with introduction, paragraphs and conclusion xd

2024-12-20 05:30

As i always do. I'd say half my posts are like this. I'm not one to just give an answer without thinking it over, so i write down my thoughts. I keep those thoughts and then add them into my posts, they are essentially inner monologues i then turn into proper essays.

2024-12-20 05:38

In terms of HL, an odd ranking, also base on impact for the entire tournament 1. Donk 4k vs FaZe including 2 kill through smoke (Kato) 2. JL deagle round ACE vs G2 (Copenhegen) 3. Monesy AK spray +smoke spam from heaven to secret at Nuke (Dallas) 4. Muturis 1v4 vs FaZe (cologne) 4. Niko 1v5 attempt vs Vitality (Fall Final) 5. Donk 1v5 vs Heroic (Shanghai) 6. Skullz 1v4 VS FaZe (Shanghai) 7. (Recency bias) rain and Ropz 2v4 (jumping no scope) vs spirit (Shanghai)

2024-12-20 00:52

KSCERATO's play was insane and vital to the match.

2024-12-20 04:50

Well, they loss the map so...

2024-12-20 06:19

Edit: I am inaccurate: I should have say: these play either, has very important impact in the match, or, solidified the player’s/team’s legacy. M0nesy ‘s AK spray, although insignificant, requires the highest skill in his highlight this year Muturis clutch marked SAW’s Blackhorse story Niko’s clutch…although a failure, marked the first time where blood shed literally. Skullz clutch saved his career. Rain and Ropz’s clutch make faze the most entertaining team to watch.

2024-12-20 07:58

get fucking apEX and hallzerk outta here wtf

2024-12-20 02:20

Coach of the year - Taz LMAO, nice joke

2024-12-20 02:49

If only niko killed apex on mirage, it would've been sure clutch of the year.

2024-12-20 03:39

hopefully nobody from mouz win anything

2024-12-20 03:40

That ACE by KSCERATO was insane.

2024-12-20 04:49

yes shooting people in the back is definetly more insane than a pre plant 1v5 with position known

2024-12-20 15:20

Monesy Donk Ropz Malbs Kyxsan Hally Donk 1v5

2024-12-20 06:03

XTQZZZ LMAOOOOO

2024-12-20 07:23

Niko did not make an ace of Deagle. 4 kills for Deagle, 1 kill for Ak-47

2024-12-20 07:40

Device benchwarmer of the year

2024-12-20 08:08

Where's that jL 1v3 vs. Spirit on Dust2? Definitely the highlight of the year for me, missing it here.

2024-12-20 08:44

niko deagle ace on ancient surely the highlight of the year

2024-12-20 20:09

Kyxsan igl of the year

2024-12-20 09:58

jL 4k with the revolver was really nice.

2024-12-20 10:53

Jame is IGL of the year

2024-12-20 11:28

Let's gooo, hallzerk was nominated!!!

2024-12-20 11:41

ZywOo Donk jL b1t bLitz B1ad3 jL ace

2024-12-20 12:16

I fixed: w0nderful⁠ ⁠iM⁠ jL b1t Aleksib⁠ B1ad3⁠ jL

2024-12-20 23:19

aint no one voting hallzerk DX

2024-12-20 14:36

awp m0nesy clear entry donk clear closer idk really, all just do their job anchor its between zontix and jimphat igl cant rate coach ash highlight either donk 1v5 or monesy scout

2024-12-20 15:24

AWPER: Monesy Opener: donk Closer : JL Anchor : Jimpphat IGL : AleksiB Coach : Blad3 Highlight : donk 1v5 / skulzz 1v4

2024-12-20 21:59

m0NESY donk jL malbsMd karrigan B1ad3 donk 1v5

2024-12-21 00:05

We can say AleskiB and B1ad3 are already the winners of their category

2024-12-21 02:07

AWPer of the year - ZyWoo Opener - donk Closer - ⁠Jimpphat⁠ Anchor - ropz IGL - ⁠Aleksib Coach - blade

2024-12-21 05:54

No fallen? A big joke here.

2024-12-22 02:58

Agreed Fallen career after 2017-2018 is a big joke

2024-12-22 08:12

imo given navi could win team of the year given their achievments and consistency id say it's a kinda safe bet to have at least blade for coach of the year (and maybe aleksi as igl but idk too much about this one)

2024-12-22 08:57

JAME TIME

2024-12-22 17:35

donk is undoubtedly the top one, and if the results show that he is not the top one, then there is something wrong with the list.

2024-12-23 12:51

taz in coach of the year for 1100 claps in a year

2024-12-26 14:33

you know, to be truthful and serious, the best donk player, the best monesi sniper in 3rd place are 4 players at once Ropz NiKo "ZywOo" jl the best team I will choose from 3 teams Natus Vincere FaZe Clan and Team Spirit next G2 and probably what they deserve to become the tir1 team on the pro scene is The Mongolz they are a lot they worked hard and now not only the result, but the skill became visible further and more at the major in Shanghai, they did not

2024-12-27 06:56

they have worked hard and now not only the result, but also the skill has become visible further and more at the major in Shanghai, they did not have enough experience playing in public.