Top 20 players of 2024: sh1ro (6)

sh1ro lands sixth place on the Top 20 players of 2024 ranking by 1xBet and SkinClub thanks to fantastic raw numbers and peaks that earned him many individual accolades as Spirit's second star.

Top 20 players of 2024: Introduction

Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov makes an appearance in the top 20 players ranking for the fourth year in a row, each time placing eighth or better ever since he burst onto the scene in 2021.

Back then, he made the list for the first time after a successful first year on tier one with Gambit. After competing under the organization's academy squad for the previous two years and making waves at the lower tiers, the team quickly took the top-tier scene by storm with sh1ro at the helm as the ever-dependable positional AWPer during the COVID-induced online era.

Although they struggled to maintain the same level in the following years under the Cloud9 banner, sh1ro remained a force to be reckoned with, even improving on his fourth placing from 2021 to third in 2022 when the scene returned to LAN.

The team underwent several changes in a mostly disappointing 2023, which brought an end to sh1ro's five-year partnership with Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov. The massive mid-year signings of Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy and Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov failed to deliver on their promise, and a few months later the AWPer looked for new pastures as he benched himself before the year came to a close, finishing 2023 as its eighth-best player.

For a more in-depth look at sh1ro's earlier years, you can read through his previous appearances in our Top 20 ranking:

- Top 20 players of 2021: sh1ro (4)
- Top 20 players of 2022: sh1ro (3)
- Top 20 players of 2023: sh1ro (8)

As the 2023 season drew to a close, it was announced that sh1ro's new home was in Spirit. It was a move that looked like a gamble when it wasn't clear how Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets would respond to tier-one competition on the regular, but the young phenom wasn't the only reason sh1ro made the controversial switch to the young, unproven side. It was the two senior figures, as well.

"I saw this team's potential and I knew that working with chopper and hally would help me expand my horizons, both personally and professionally," sh1ro tells HLTV.

It didn't take long for proof to be found in the pudding. The year got off to a slow start for the new Spirit after visa issues meant they'd have to use stand-ins for donk and Boris "⁠magixx⁠" Vorobiev at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, but it ended up being just a temporary, meaningless setback.

"At the beginning of the year, there were indeed some difficulties related to donk's and magixx's absence," sh1ro says about the start of the year. "After the tournament, I realized that I needed to get into shape individually to remain competitive. At that time, I was very curious to see donk and zont1x at a tier-one event."

Just a week later, the team was back in full force in time for IEM Katowice, and the world quickly learned it had been foolish to question sh1ro's choice. With donk putting on a record-matching 1.70-rated performance in Poland, Spirit battered everyone in their path on the way to the trophy.

"I tried not to set my expectations too high," sh1ro says about his goals for Katowice. "In the end, we demonstrated a high level of play, and donk played brilliantly at the tournament."

All eyes were on the controversial prodigy screaming his lungs out at his opponents as he stomped them one after another, but sh1ro put on a great event of his own and came away with his first EVP of the year. His 1.38 series rating in an opening match against Natus Vincere and a 1.34 in the 3-0 grand final victory versus FaZe were his biggest highlights.

"Our performance in Katowice was truly an important milestone in my career, and I am very happy that I was able to show my high level of play," he says about getting his first EVP of the year in Katowice. "Even though donk was often in the spotlight, I was also confident in my abilities and knew that I could make a significant contribution to the team.

"Having achieved such a big victory, I felt both joy and relief. All of this only confirmed that my choice to join Spirit was the right one, and I was able to find my place in the team."

As donk's response to the question 'What's your next goal?' evidenced, confidence was high in the Spirit camp after such a victory in their first true test together as they set their sights on PGL Major Copenhagen. Although donk inevitably dropped off from the unimaginable Katowice high, the signs were good at first. They went 3-1 at the RMR with sh1ro consistent as ever, and the AWPer went on to put up a 1.39 rating in the Elimination Stage on the way to a 3-0 sweep for a spot in the playoffs.

Everything was headed for another deep run at least, but a struggling yet resilient FaZe put a stop to Spirit in the quarter-finals after Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's ballsy veto choice exploited a key weakness in the Russian team's map pool, Vertigo. sh1ro went 0.88 for the playoffs series, causing him to miss out on another EVP mention after the impressive group stage.

"After Katowice, it was difficult to manage expectations," sh1ro explains. "Everyone had already started talking about the team's heightened ambitions, and when you show such a high level of play, it's natural that expectations will grow. donk's answer about the desire to win the Major emphasized that the team is determined to win and is ready to fight for the highest results.

"But reaching just the quarter-finals was not easy, especially when you had set such high goals. It may have been disappointing because the team probably believed they could do better. In situations like this, it's important to use this experience as an opportunity to grow."

As the only top team to miss out on ESL Pro League, Spirit's next stop wasn't until mid-May at the first BetBoom Dacha in Belgrade. There, Spirit reached the final by sweeping Aurora, HEROIC and Falcons before they faltered in the best-of-five title decider in their second consecutive loss to MOUZ. Once again, sh1ro didn't live up to his usual level in the exit series, but he still earned the EVP after putting up a 1.20 rating for the event and six consecutive maps in the green leading up to the final.

The Russian squad traveled overseas for IEM Dallas a week later and secured another deep finish. The group stage was once again a breeze, featuring Spirit's third consecutive win over Natus Vincere and a revenge victory over FaZe in the upper final, but this time Vitality put a stop to their run in the semi-finals. For once, sh1ro was the best in his team, showcasing superb fragging overall (0.82 KPR) and in round wins (1.07 KPRW), and this time put up resistance in the elimination series. He came away with the team's only EVP nod as a result.

By then, it had begun to seem as if Spirit were developing a problem with pressure, always faltering at the first opportunity against a top team in the playoffs. But before the season came to an end, they finally got over the shakes at the BLAST Premier Spring Final, where they picked up their second trophy of the year.

sh1ro was key against a Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov-less G2 in the opener and he later topped the board as Spirit exacted another revenge on Vitality in the semi-finals. NAVI stood as their last test. sh1ro hoped to outdo donk in the MVP race after 1.42 and 1.49-rated maps earned his team a 2-0 lead in the grand final, but he just missed out on the accolade after his teammate sped past him in the last two maps.

"We had a break before the Major after Katowice, which is probably why we approached the last tournament of the season more responsibly. We trained hard, motivated each other and drew conclusions after each game. I think that all the success in 2024 is due to each player's individual play," sh1ro says about Spirit's return to form in London.

And so Spirit went off into the season's sunset with two big trophies in the bag, more than any other team by that point. But, when they returned from their well-deserved time off, their momentum had disappeared.

They stomped MIBR in the opener at the Esports World Cup only to come on the losing end of the quarter-final against the new G2, who would become the bane of Spirit's existence for most of the rest of the year following the additions of Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa and Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski.

A swift run to a spot at the Fall Finals in the BLAST Groups was next, with sh1ro impressive as ever, but a hard fall followed at IEM Cologne. In a team-wide disappearance, Spirit went out dead last after losses to The MongolZ and G2, only managing four rounds in the series against their would-be nemesis.

"We didn't come out of the holidays in the best shape," sh1ro says. "The first half of the year was more than successful for us, so we had all built too many expectations. It seems to me that this is precisely why the team's emotional state worsened and we lost."

After pondering where they'd gone wrong, it was time for Spirit to go to another BetBoom Dacha studio event two weeks later. The run to the final there was far from as simple as in the previous iteration. MOUZ were their opponents in the semi-finals this time around, but sh1ro and company passed that test after a tough series. Eternal Fire then offered some resistance in the best-of-five, but Spirit rallied to a 3-0 win off of a 1.43-rated performance from the AWPer.

Once again, sh1ro finished second in the MVP race to donk despite a super-consistent showing leading to his best event of the year when it comes to raw numbers: a 1.35 rating, 0.84 KPR, 1.35 Impact, and 1.06 KPRW.

A winded campaign at ESL Pro League Season 20 followed. From the beginning, Spirit struggled even against the lower-ranked opposition as a tough match against Wildcard and a loss to MIBR set the tone for the rest of the group stage. Once they reached the playoffs, FURIA and Imperial fell by the wayside, but the eventual champions, Natus Vincere, proved too much in the quarter-finals.

It was a solid event from sh1ro, but most of his numbers came against lower opposition and he had a quiet first map in the elimination series, which once again prevented him from getting an EVP award despite his 1.19 rating for the event.

Another miss came at BLAST Premier Fall Final as Spirit's struggles against G2 continued, this time going out at the hands of Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and company in the quarter-finals. They also suffered a narrow loss to Liquid and barely made it past Astralis, which showed there was work to be done before Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov's squad could once again challenge for big titles as the season was winding down.

"I think every team has an 'uncomfortable' opponent," sh1ro says when asked about why G2 were such a pain in their side in the second half of the season. "Besides that, G2 is a very experienced team. I think every player on this team understands our style of play, especially NiKo."

But skipping IEM Rio meant Spirit had time to work on their issues, and they came back from a full month of preparation reinvigorated at the BLAST Premier World Final. Two more losses to G2 marred their otherwise impressive campaign, in which they beat a Vitality with Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug, FaZe and Astralis. sh1ro was his consistent self on the way to the grand final, making the difference in a close bout against karrigan and company, and notched another EVP nod for his efforts in getting Spirit far despite a dismal grand final.

Only one event was left on the calendar then, and it was the biggest one: the Perfect World Shanghai Major cycle.

Spirit's run in Shanghai got off to a worrying start. A troubled campaign through the RMR saw them through by the skin of their teeth after they suffered a loss to Passion UA in the best-of-ones and another — albeit much closer for once — to G2.

Another surprise loss to FURIA in the Elimination Stage opener wasn't the best of signs, either, but soon things took a turn for the better. Spirit passed Wildcard in the next best-of-one and then battered Natus Vincere to go 2-1, before a hard-earned victory against HEROIC saw them through to the playoffs. sh1ro was up and down up to this point but contributed well to three of their four map wins, and he went on to go five in five in the green as Spirit passed Liquid and MOUZ in the first two playoffs rounds.

Facing off against FaZe in the grand final, sh1ro started slowly as the two teams traded the first two maps, with a daunting 4-15 K-D in a second map Ancient loss setting him on edge ahead of the all-important Dust2 decider.

"Being at one tournament in one country for a whole month took its toll. In fact, difficult situations haunted me many times, but I always collected myself. Specifically, on the second map [of the final], I was out of the game," sh1ro recalls his low point during the grand final. "I still can't understand what exactly was in my way. I believed that the team would be able to come back, and then I would definitely be able to gather my strength on the third map. I was also haunted by memories of IEM Rio and PGL 2021, and I realized that I didn't want a repeat of those matches.

"My emotions are visible in the vlog. At that moment, I probably just wanted to be alone. I would also like to thank my coach, hally. He managed to find the right words for me at that moment. I saw how his eyes were burning, how much he wanted our victory, and I just could not let him down."

sh1ro's mental recovery made all the difference in the decider. Just as he had throughout the tournament with another record performance, donk stole the show in the first half, but it was the AWPer who made the Major-winning play, a clutch in the final round that stopped FaZe's attempt at a comeback for the ages from a 5-12 deficit.

"Becoming a Major champion is a great achievement, the culmination of all my efforts. This is the moment when your name becomes part of a big story and you understand that all the work and long hours of training were justified," sh1ro says of etching his name in the history books.

"When I joined Spirit, I didn't think we would be able to achieve any results so quickly. Looking back on my decision now, I can say that this year has been very eventful. My expectations were met, in a way — I was able to win the main tournament, thus fulfilling my cherished dream."

Why was sh1ro the 6th best player of 2024?

sh1ro makes his fourth consecutive appearance in the Top 20 players ranking off the back of a year in which he put up outstanding numbers across the board, displaying a very high floor from tournament to tournament and from map to map.

He put up a 1.19 overall rating (4th) thanks to his superb fragging output (0.77 KPR, 5th) and survival (0.55 DPR, 2nd), multi-kill ability (19.6% of rounds, 4th) and consistency (76.6% KAST, 4th).

The Russian AWPer mostly maintained that form regardless of the level of competition, recording 1.15 at Big Events, 1.14 at Elite+, 1.13 at Super-Elite+ and 1.14 at Majors. He also outperformed most in big matches (1.09, 7th), in arenas (1.11, 7th), and when facing off against the best teams (1.11 vs. top 5, 6th; 1.11 vs. top 10, 5th).

And thanks to consistent peaks, sh1ro earned seven EVP mentions from IEM Katowice, BetBoom Dacha, IEM Dallas, BLAST Premier Spring Final, BetBoom Dacha Season 2, BLAST Premier World Final and the Perfect World Shanghai Major.

That's more awards than anyone outside of the big three, but it's worth noting two of those came from medium-sized events, which puts a slight damper on his accolades compared to the next two players.

sh1ro also only entered the MVP race at Big Events once, at the BLAST Premier Spring Final — not just because he was on the same team with donk but because his individual peaks were not quite as strong as the players above.

That came as a result of his numbers under pressure, which were admittedly very strong in the grand scheme of things but not close enough to the top five, who were on a whole other level in arenas and playoff matches overall.

Bold prediction by 1xBet

sh1ro is the fourth player to predict his organization's academy gem, Maxim "⁠kyousuke⁠" Lukin, who was turning heads all 2024 long in his official matches and on FACEIT.

"I think this player can achieve high results if he continues to develop," the AWPer says about the Spirit Academy superstar-in-the-making.

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Stay tuned to our Top 20 Players of 2024 ranking and take a look at the Introduction article to learn more about how the players were selected.