Top 20 players of 2024: b1t (9)

b1t matches his personal best 9th place in the Top 20 players of the year ranking by 1xBet and SkinClub after earning his first career MVP and impressing with a run of standout performances.

Top 20 players of 2024: Introduction

Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy makes his third Top 20 players of the year list in 2024 in Natus Vincere’s first full year as an international squad, and matches his personal best ninth place in the ranking from his rookie year in 2021.

Natus Vincere didn’t quite have the same dominance as they did in their world-beating 2021 campaign, which was spearheaded by Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev in peak form, but b1t showed plenty of maturity after dipping down to 16th place in 2022 and missing the ranking completely in Natus Vincere’s transitional 2023 season.

b1t had a unique breakthrough into the top echelons of competitive Counter-Strike. One of 1,900 applicants in a recruitment campaign by NAVI Junior, he was picked out to join the academy team in the days before the WePlay Academy League.

What made his breakthrough truly different was that he was a sixth player at a time when mid-match substitutions were allowed. First, it was on Inferno, then by early 2021, Overpass and Mirage, and after Valve ruled against mid-match substitutions, he was brought into the fold.

CS:GO returned to LAN after the pandemic at IEM Cologne, and b1t got his first Big Event EVP there in Natus Vincere’s dominant rest of the year as they went on to win every LAN of the five they attended including the PGL Major in Stockholm.

Talks of an era abounded as the calendar turned from 2021 to 2022, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine put a schism in the Russian-Ukrainian team. b1t still made it to the Top 20 players of the year, in 16th place, despite a tumultuous time — which included Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov taking over in-game leadership after Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov’s benching halfway through the year.

Natus Vincere only won one tournament, the BLAST Spring Final, but they still had good runs with runner-up finishes at the PGL Major in Antwerp and IEM Cologne before Boombl4’s departure, and b1t was an EVP at all of them.

The start of 2023 was not much better, and after a trophyless first half of the year Natus Vincere bid farewell to Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy and electroNic, opening the door to a new era for Natus Vincere as they changed from communicating in Russian to English with the acquisitions of an international core.

The transition to an international team was not without its turbulence, and with the release of CS2 and waning motivation from superstar s1mple, Natus Vincere failed to secure a trophy before the turn of 2024. For the first time since he was promoted, b1t went without lifting a trophy and missed out on making the Top 20 players of the year ranking.

There were clues as to what was to come, however, as a second-place finish at ESL Pro League Season 18 — the last in CS:GO, and s1mple’s last in a NAVI kit — and a semi-final run at the final event of the year, BLAST World Final, hinted that this international roster with Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen calling the shots, Ukrainian up-and-comer Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov on the big green, and BLAST.tv Paris Major breakouts Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius and Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan could prove the naysayers wrong under the orders of Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy.

"I’m still young and I was looking forward to the international changes positively," b1t says of the changes that set the tone for 2024, "because I like challenges and wanted to learn English a couple of years before."

For more of b1t's early career, see his previous Top 20 players of the year appearances:
- Top 20 players of 2022: b1t (16)
- Top 20 players of 2021: b1t (9)

The start of the year was promising for b1t and this still new Natus Vincere roster as they breezed through the PGL Major’s qualifier and the BLAST Premier Groups, beating teams like Virtus.pro and G2 along the way. The Ukrainian anchor was also in fine form individually with 1.15 and 1.22 ratings.

Things changed as the year started to heat up in earnest, however. b1t posted one of only two negative ratings in 2024 at the Super-Elite IEM Katowice, although it was largely because of a terrible start against what would turn out to be Natus Vincere’s bête noire all season long, Spirit, and a team collapse against Falcons in the group stage’s lower bracket final.

b1t was crucial in two important maps in particular, deciders in lower-bracket bouts against Apeks and Eternal Fire, rated 1.33 and 1.58, respectively.

A 3-1 record at the Copenhagen Major’s RMR was nothing to scoff at, but Natus Vincere still looked like a team with much to polish as they scraped by through the Elimination Stage 3-2 with best-of-one victories against The MongolZ and G2 followed by losses to Spirit and Cloud9. A final victory over paiN, where b1t shone as the team’s second-highest rated player with a 1.37, kickstarted what would be an incredible run in the playoffs.

Natus Vincere’s playoff run in Copenhagen was perhaps not incredible because of its beauty, as they didn’t even have a positive round-win percentage, but it was effective. b1t was quiet in the game against Eternal Fire and the lowest-rated player on the server against G2, but he came alive in the grand final to lead Natus Vincere to Major victory with a 1.49 rating in the series.

His 1.03 rating may not go down as a worldbeating performance, but his contributions — especially in the grand final, which is a part of his 1.07-rated big matches in 2024 — were solid at critical moments, such as the match to get past the group stage and the aforementioned final. Particularly in the two maps Natus Vincere won to raise the trophy, a 1.47-rated Ancient, the opener, and a massive 2.21 in the 13-3 thrashing on the Inferno decider.

The collapses in the loss against Spirit and the playoff victory against G2 also showed one of b1t’s struggles throughout the year — his 1.03 rating for 2024 against top 5 teams. At the same time, Natus Vincere’s win, which came by surprise and was not won dominantly, raised eyebrows and criticism equally, with many dubbing it a fluke.

"I’m pretty sure that a team winning any event can not be a fluke. We did a lot of work at our bootcamp," b1t says of the team’s embattled victory in Copenhagen. "For some reason, we couldn’t show a good game or good synergy during the event, but this work makes you stronger overall and in long matches."

There was no Major hangover for b1t, who got right to business at ESL Pro League Season 19 and posted a 1.24 rating and 1.30 impact rating, but Natus Vincere dipped and lost the group stage upper bracket final to Complexity despite a top of the scoreboard performance by b1t with a 1.33 rating in the series. The loss was costly, as they were matched up with FaZe, who were hungry for revenge after the Major final in Copenhagen, and lost 0-2 to go out in 9-12th place.

More worrying was IEM Dallas, where Natus Vincere also went out 9-12th, but this time in a 16-team field. An opening best-of-one victory against BIG was followed by losses to Spirit and, more shockingly, to HEROIC. b1t, like the rest of the team, was all-in on the collapse, and posted his lowest rating of the year, a 0.87.

"We played very badly, and those teams wanted to win more than us," b1t says of his team’s time in Dallas. "That’s why we had this kind of result. Nowadays, if you’re not playing 100%, you can lose to every team in the top 20."

Natus Vincere kicked back into gear on their trip to London for the final event before the player, BLAST Premier Spring Final. b1t and his teammates dispatched of Astralis and FaZe in the group stage, took out Virtus.pro in the semis and then fell to none other than Spirit in the best-of-five final. The Ukrainian once again struggled against Natus Vincere’s nemesis in the final and came in lowest in his team with a 0.79 rating, but still had a 1.05 throughout the tournament to show for despite falling at the final hurdle.

The result in London was not a mirage, and Natus Vincere returned from the break in hot form under the sweltering sun of Riyadh. b1t had his best event of the year at The Esports World Cup, posting a 1.30 rating, 1.21 playoff rating, and 1.23 impact, as well as 88.8 ADR.

b1t topped the board against FURIA (1.65 rating), FaZe (1.34), and bounced back to help Natus Vincere beat MOUZ despite a poor first map, in which they were thrashed 1-13. Then, after a slow start in an overtime loss to G2 on Ancient (0.95), he kicked into gear on Nuke (1.47) and Inferno (1.70) to once again lead his team to victory in a grand final. This time, he also earned the first MVP of his career.

"We played well as a team; everyone came back with great passion after the break," b1t says of the team’s surge in form and being awarded the MVP at EWC. "Sooner or later, I was supposed to get this award, but the most beautiful thing is winning trophies — an MVP is not even close to this feeling —, although I’m happy that I got my first MVP."

b1t then excelled at the BLAST Fall Groups in what became a run of form for the Ukrainian with a 1.24 rating, 1.21 impact, and 85.2 ADR, but Natus Vincere really turned up the heat at the following events, starting with the prestigious IEM Cologne. Natus Vincere beat paiN, Astralis, SAW, and MOUZ on the way to the grand final and b1t was excellent throughout.

In the end, victory eluded b1t and his teammates as Vitality came out on top in a well-fought best-of-five final. The Ukrainian rifler dropped the ball on Nuke, with a 0.70 rating in a tight-fought overtime map, but was rated 1.10 or above in the remaining three maps. He ended the tournament with a 1.23 rating and a 1.10 in the playoffs, earning his only EVP of the year at an Elite+ Event.

Natus Vincere continued their run of form at ESL Pro League Season 20 and played a perfect tournament in Malta, making it to the grand final undefeated. b1t had an inspired event even against teams he and Natus Vincere had at times struggled with: Spirit and G2, in the playoffs.

The Ukrainian rifler had a 1.33 rating in the quarter-finals against the Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov-led squad and a 1.24 in the semis against Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and company. He was up-and-down in the final against Eternal Fire, which he ended with a 0.96 rating, but came out big in crucial maps: A 13-11 victory on Ancient, where he had a 1.41 rating, and the decider map, a 13-10 victory on Dust2, which he topped with a 1.29 rating.

Any thoughts of Natus Vincere being a fluke were long gone, and they were now even starting to build a case for becoming the team of the year. BLAST Fall Final came next and they didn’t disappoint — until the final. They started with victories against Falcons, G2, and FaZe. In this stretch b1t had one 1.03 rated map, one 1.10, two 1.30+, one 1.44, and one 1.77.

The grand final in Denmark, a rematch against G2, was a different story, as b1t only mustered one out of four maps in the green, a 1.13 in the lone map victory while finishing the match with a 0.86 in the series, which brought down his average to a 1.10 at the tournament.

After alternating first and second places at the previous five events, a first-place finish was in order at IEM Rio, and that’s how it went. Natus Vincere won four out of five matches on the way to the grand final, which they won against MOUZ 3-1.

b1t had a team-high 1.16 (tied with jL) in the tournament and an even better 1.21 in the playoffs. His rating against top 5 opponents, which usually wasn’t very high throughout the year (1.03), skyrocketed to 1.20 in Brazil due to his performance against MOUZ, the only top 5 team Natus Vincere faced.

"IEM Rio was so good!" b1t says about the event, where he got his third and last EVP of the year. "I can’t explain my feelings, but it was one of the best events ever. There were a lot of comebacks, and the team made a huge effort."

All good things must come to an end and IEM Rio ended up being the final event in Natus Vincere’s streak — at a bad time, too, with the Shanghai Major looming large. "Did I feel domination like in 2021? Not really,” b1t says. "First, the whole scene is getting better and better every day, and we had tough matches and finals the whole year.

"What was clicking in the team? We practiced a lot, had passion and desire to win, good synergy, good individual performances by every player, good mental aspect, good coach and analyst, good conclusions and conversations, etc."

BLAST World Final was a disaster. Natus Vincere won a single map of five played against Astralis and FaZe. b1t ended with a 1.19 rating, but it was largely due to a monstrous 2.02-rated performance in the single map win, a 13-6 on Inferno against Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and his men, and the small sample of maps played in Singapore.

Natus Vincere had a great seeding at the RMR for the Shanghai Major and had a fairly pleasant ride through the qualifying tournament, but their only tough matchup — against MOUZ — turned up a loss, which was a worrying sign. b1t had a field day, though, with a 1.37 rating that included a 1.60 against fnatic, 1.56 against SINNERS, and 1.63 against SAW. Even in the defeat to MOUZ, b1t put up a decent 1.09.

Natus Vincere kicked off their run in the Elimination Stage with a victory over Liquid and b1t had a 1.36 rating, but an 11-13 loss to MIBR (0.87) gave way to another big blow from Spirit, 2-13, with b1t finishing with a 0.23 rating in the thrashing.

"If we talk about Spirit, we lost so many times to them, but it’s already in the past," b1t says. "It was their magic year, but next year is not the year of the dragon anymore!"

b1t had a good match against GamerLegion, with a 1.34 rating in the 2-0 that got Natus Vincere to the decider, but once again HEROIC came out of left field to knock b1t and his teammates out of contention, putting an end to their year. b1t finished the event in China with a 1.02 rating, similar to his 1.03 in Copenhagen, but without the big moments, and Natus Vincere’s cake remained without a cherry to top a great 2024 off.

"Let’s forget about this event, please," is all b1t has to say about the Major. "It was very hard for me to be in China for a month. I didn’t feel good."

Why was b1t the 9th best player of 2024?

b1t lands in ninth place of the Top 20 players list thanks to an impressive run of standout performances in NAVI's successful year, starting from their run to the title at PGL Major Copenhagen to when their grand final streak ended in Singapore.

Testament to his biggest peaks are his Most Valuable Player award from NAVI's victory at the Esports World Cup and three EVPs from NAVI's run to second place at IEM Cologne (a Super-Elite event) and two more title runs at ESL Pro League Season 20 and IEM Rio.

With four more events on the brink of an EVP mention, including one at the Copenhagen Major where his carry performance in the final showed just how high he can peak despite his map-to-map inconsistencies, b1t had no shortage of head-turning performances.

"If you compare ‘21 and ‘24, I have more experience, knowledge, and a better understanding of the game," b1t says of his two 9th-place finishes in the Top 20 players of the year ranking. "It’s two different players, for sure. It feels good."

But this deep into the top 20 the competition is fierce, and to break through further the Ukrainian needed more of the sort of games under the lights that he put on in that Copenhagen final.

His 1.06 arena rating is some ways off of the players above, and he didn't stand out against the best competition overall, a 1.03 vs. top 5 being among the lowest in the top 20 and a 1.07 vs. top 10 the joint-lowest out of the players left.

Everyone above also has a more impressive award sheet at the Super-Elite Events, where b1t's up-and-down Katowice, Copenhagen, and Shanghai cost him more mentions.

Bold prediction by 1xBet

b1t picked his 17-year-old countryman Nikita "⁠jackasmo⁠" Skyba, who impressed at the end of 2024 with his Passion UA teammates as they made an unexpected run through the RMR and into the Shanghai Major, where they were eliminated with a 2-3 record in the Opening Stage.

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Stay tuned to our Top 20 Players of 2024 ranking and learn more about how the players were selected in our introduction article.