The EVPs and All-Stars of BLAST Open London

14-9-2025 12:27

HeavyGod's first-ever MVP adds an award to what has already been a stellar year for the anchor-lurker.

Nikita "⁠HeavyGod⁠" Martynenko and G2 were the seventh-highest-ranked team competing in BLAST London, outsiders for playoffs let alone the trophy.

But this was the moment the improvement from the switch Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač's captaincy was laid bare for all the world to see, and the team's uptick gave a platform for HeavyGod to put on his best event yet.

The Israeli anchor has been fantastic since joining G2, with a 1.16 rating and +1.38% Swing for 2025 so far, and he added a playoff performance to go with it under the lights at the Wembley Arena.

HeavyGod won the tight race for the MVP and can now set his eyes on the future after finishing the event with a 1.22 rating against top 10 teams and having led a 13-3, 2.04-rated demolition of Vitality on map five of the grand final.

"It's my first MVP, obviously, and it's my first trophy," he told HLTV last Sunday. "The sky is the limit for me. I'm really grateful for it once again. I hope I can do more damage in the scene, I will do my best."

HeavyGod: "We can do a lot of damage in the future; it's just the beginning for me"

If HeavyGod was the shield, Matúš "⁠MATYS⁠" Šimko was the spear in G2's playoff run. His 1.28 playoff rating, with 1.00 KPRW overall, put him in contention for the MVP even before you consider his three outstanding maps in the grand final.

The Slovakian is the new kid on the block, his only arena experience coming in the Shanghai Major's group stage, but was as bold and confident ever in the arena as he put FaZe and Vitality to the sword.

When you include the online group stage, MATYS did fall behind HeavyGod (1.32 rating in all map wins, HeavyGod 1.42), but as stage debuts go it doesn't get much better than this.

Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut was the third MVP candidate, and clear favorite at the end of map three of the grand final. The Frenchman went into Inferno on a heater, having secured 2.55 and 1.87 ratings in maps two and three, but suffered an uncharacteristic collapse with 0.72 and 0.87 ratings on maps four and five.

Add that to his 0-6 start on map one, where his rating was inflated by a single impressive 2v5 clutch, and the final was too poor overall for him to secure an MVP.

But there is little doubt his raw, aggregated, statistics match the two players above him: 1.35 rating on LAN, 1.09 KPRW overall, and four player of the map showings in playoffs.

The final put a dampener on it, but there is no doubt this was another very strong event in a very strong year from the wOo.

Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan has only had one EVP in 2025, at Pro League 21 in March, and had been struggling somewhat in the second half of the year with 1.04, 0.94, and 1.00 LAN ratings in the three events before London.

But online in groups, he exited his slump with big peaks in deciders against GamerLegion (1.72) and FaZe (1.78) before confirming his EVP on stage in three strong arena maps.

His status as a high firepower soldier-like entry means that he can put up 80 ADR while maintaining a 32% traded deaths rate and 30% opening attempts when he is firing, a unique weapon in Vitality's arsenal.

Like ZywOo, his end to the final was poor, but there was plenty of good work beforehand to secure the EVP.

Online group stages always throw up questions in our process, and here it was treated as a slightly weaker group stage than a regular all-offline event, which should have made an EVP impossible.

Enter Danil "⁠donk⁠" Kryshkovets, who put up a 1.54 rating, +5.10% Swing, and 108.8 ADR in nine online maps at Open. Even with the 0.56-rated decider against G2 considered, having eight (out of nine) maps above a 1.33 rating passes what is a very high threshold for an online group stage EVP.

How he didn't win a series in which he ended with 119.8 ADR, 51 frags, and +6.48% round swing, we still do not know.

The best players of BLAST Open London 2025, in order:

Honorable mentions

The group stage being online hurt David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský (1.42 pre-playoffs), who needed slightly more to confirm his EVP against G2 despite a great series against Vitality online.

Likewise, Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato and Mason "⁠Lake⁠" Sanderson shone online without passing the benchmark for an award after the end of playoffs.

frozen and KSCERATO suffered from groups being online

Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi had the opposite case, being MOUZ's worst in groups but best on LAN with four great maps on stage against M80 and Vitality. Yet, he was only MOUZ's fourth-most important player in their run to the semi-finals, which left him just short of the exceptionally valuable benchmark.

Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa led champions G2 in groups, while huNter- was their third best in map wins overall (1.28 rating). But neither stood out versus top 10 opposition (1.06 for malbsMd, 1.05 for huNter-) overall, denying an EVP.

All-Stars

Our four top EVPs are easy picks in the All-Star lineup, creating a deadly G2-Vitality hybrid.

In-game leader huNter- completes the set, just reward for a 57.7% T-side win-rate in what is supposed to be a CT meta.

When you have a coach as well-respected as Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha, it's sometime hard to get as much credit as you deserve, but huNter-'s captaincy of G2 deserves all the plaudits he can get.

It's one thing to be a captain off the server, a role he has fulfilled for a while, but his calling (and fragging) have also been top-notch in the server.

Players with multiple awards in 2025

ZywOo's poor finish meant he did not take full advantage of donk's group stage exit, but the race is still on with a 0.09 rating gap between the scene's two immortals.

The EVPs of 2025

EPL S21

G2 are proving the rolecels were right all along

WTF online GS is counted, i mean donk does deserve EVP for his performance but online? at this point make better format

2025-09-14 12:28

26 replies

the online evp is the only way donk can keep up in the race with woo for #1 hltv, i think its fine in this case

2025-09-14 12:30

This whole event shouldn't be getting EVP and MVP treatment anyway. 80% of the games online and was already a tier 1.5/2 event.

2025-09-14 12:36

we decided to count online for bounty at the start of the year, so we have to count it here too. will see what we do for 2026. but if you're counting online to help the playoff guys confirm their EVPs, then it has to be theoretically possible to get an EVP from groups, even if the bar is very very high. just happens that donk crossed that bar. the only argument against him is that it was online/groups, there's very little you can say about his *individual* performance (that decider was a full team collapse)

2025-09-14 12:40

22 replies

I understand, thank you for clarification

2025-09-14 12:41

#21 Why even give this event MVP/EVP treatment? It messes with any retelling of significance of MVP/EVP tellings in a players career.

2025-09-14 12:43

1 reply

Along with groups being weighted less than normal in EVP chats, the total event has its weight decreased because of the online group stage. Lisbon is a far more important event for the top 20 than London because of this even though it's the same format etc But you can't double punish an event by making an EVP impossible *AND* killing its weight too. EVPs are not all equal, and never have been. The history books will deal with this just fine.

2025-09-14 12:48

Is there any proof that you decided to count online for bounty tournaments at the start of year ?

2025-09-14 13:04

2 replies

hltv.org/news/40857/the-evps-and-best-fi.. hltv.org/stats/players/matches/7938/xant.. it was a bit better on 2.1 but i still dont think he gets an evp for this without online counting

2025-09-14 13:08

fair enough, thanks

2025-09-14 13:11

So would 0-3 with 1.8 rating on Major enough to get EVP?

2025-09-14 13:28

11 replies

1.85 +

2025-09-14 13:39

If this is Monesy or Donk, then yes

2025-09-14 13:52

Given that that would be 4 or 5 maps (compared to donk's 9), and likely against a lower tier of opposition than donk played, probably not. A 2-3 with similar stats, maybe. It also slightly depends on whether playoffs players outperforming you, which there's more chance of at a Major (being an 8 team playoff rather than 6 teams like BLAST), and the depth of your run also matters even more (hence why there have been no losing Major MVPs).

2025-09-14 16:34

8 replies

No way you should get any rewards like MVP/EVP not playering the most omportant games, which are playoffs. You could play 4 maps and go 3-0 and have stats like 1.5 and than drop 0.6 and bombout of playoffs with like ~1.0 avarage rating.

2025-09-14 19:26

7 replies

Cologne 2022, ZywOo got EVP for the group stage, Vitality got 9-12 place, and?? hltv.org/news/34296/the-evps-of-iem-colo.. EVP is an individual award, even if your team lets you down, you still should have a chance to be recognised if you show an exceptional individual performance

2025-09-15 00:29

6 replies

It's not about team it's about amount of maps you played. Donk played 4 maps against 7/9 for others EVP winners

2025-09-15 19:24

5 replies

Idk what u're talking about Spirit played 4 matches with 9 maps, including matches against Furia and G2 who won Blast London hltv.org/team/7020/spirit#tab-matchesBox Vitality played 3 matches with also 9 maps in Cologne 2022 and ZywOo got EVP there for group stages hltv.org/results?event=6140 Kyousuke in Cologne 2025 played even less, 3 matches with 6 maps and got EVP for group stages hltv.org/team/11283/falcons#tab-matchesB.. EVP is the individual award, if a player can show exceptional results and stats that other players can't replicate, he can get EVP even for groups, but it's quite rare because regular players cannot match someone like Donk/ZywOo in terms of the individual impact

2025-09-15 20:22

4 replies

And Vita players played 16 maps combined and G2 players 18 maps Twice more than Spirit. What if donk droped 0.6 rating in 1/4 and 0.9 in semi do you still think he should get evp? He played too few maps in order to be considered for EVP As for EVPs for zywoo and kyo for online - they are mistake too

2025-09-15 21:01

Simple question: 0-3 on Major with 1.8+ rating and a finalist with 1.15-1.2 equally deserved EVP?

2025-09-15 21:04

EVP is an individual award, so team results should not affect this. I would like to measure only from the individual perspective. If someone has 1.8+ against strong opposition and at the same time his teammates are letting them down and team loses in groups, so yes, for me this person can get EVP If your team passes groups and reaches semis/finals but you're just an average player with average stats, maybe you should just give EVP to your coach or your analysts then? As in this case, it's not like you did something special for that. Teams like Navi from 2024 or Mouz can show good team results, but they just don't have any outstanding players who can pull off games 1v9 when it's needed. Just give EVP to B1ad3 then, as he was the reason Navi was winning last year. So for me, personally, all of those EVPs for Kyo/Donk/ZywOo were deserved, as these players showed performances that players from other teams couldn't show and they didn't pass groups just because of their teammates

2025-09-15 21:19

"If someone has 1.8+ against strong opposition" But how it's fair if you play 5 maps (worts possible scenario: 0-1 (1 map) -> 0-2 (2 maps) -> 0-3 (5 maps) against strong oppo and me played 14 maps, best possible scenario (2-1 for all matches)? Whom do you think would be easier to get a final rating like 1.8+?

2025-09-15 22:21

All of last Christmas you kept arguing how zywoo's higher numbers compared to m0nesy dont matter, because they were in LAN Groupstage. Suddenly were holding ONLINE groupstage to EVP standards. Go one way or another, but be consistent. This inconsistency is the reason why there was so much uproar during last year's top 20, please, stick to same formula for at least 1 year. @NER0cs @Striker

2025-09-14 16:58

3 replies

You're not taking into consideration the fact that EVPs are handed in the context of the event, and are not meant to be compared one to one from one event to another. They are not all made the same and this one will eventually be worth less than some big event non EVPs from tournaments that were held on LAN in the entirety. There's nothing inconsistent about it, end of year we will contextualize these numbers same way we do every year. Donk's will not contribute to his LAN (or big event) numbers.

2025-09-14 20:59

Okay, thats fair argument in terms of EVPs being event-tired and non comparable, thank you for clarification. Can I ask on the end of the year matter - wont this still have somewhat big impact on top 20 standing in terms of group EVPs being possible this year. Lets say frozen 2023 was lower than his numbers were due to lack of playoffs, but had he hypothetically gotten one of those EVPs back then would he place higher or these GS EVPs hold very little value and context itself is way more important?

2025-09-14 21:08

If it was alreayd edgy, it wouldn't matter in the placings anyway and might be seen as another unfair treatment, why not stick to a already quite long 4 man EVP list ? After that any fanboy will be outraged that their favorite X player didn't get his reward for a decent group stage while some more favored player gets to receive it ?

2025-09-14 22:47

Yeah I think they will probably weigh this EVP much lower than his other ones though during top 20 rankings @Striker

2025-09-14 12:49

well deserved evp for donk

pog

HeavyGOAT!

donk ez

EZ for donk

kyosuke moment again

2025-09-14 12:29

so now we start to give EVP for group stage, okay

i would understand if the group stage was on lan

2025-09-14 12:52

bro he legit dominated the event even in 3 out of 4 map losses.

2025-09-14 14:24

Theres just no consistency, they used the exact opposite argument of group stage not mattering last year in the zywoo v monesy top20.

2025-09-14 17:04

Read the article bro. Online group stage is still a group stage, with significantly higher bar for an EVP. And players did get EVP for group stage before. Counting only playoffs with just 6 matches total makes more sense? Zywoo could have gotten MVP for just 2 matches of playoffs? That is why there was an exception to include online part to the calculations in this tournament. And if that is included, then donk has a little chance.

2025-09-15 07:38

EVP for being an onliner, keep this clown shit going HLTV :D

Evp by performing in group shouldnt happen in every event (yes including zywoo and kyou).

Donk EVP lmao, HLTV staff really needs to stop creating this "race" for top 1

There is no race, donk is #1, best performing player this year and last. He's not on the best team, but he is the best player.

2025-09-15 17:21

Imo you're right but he isn't one man army as some fanboys say, sh1ro is a top 3-4 player and zont1x does a lot of dirty work on both sides

2025-09-15 17:22

Agreed on all points.

2025-09-15 17:31

Flamez EVP here is comical

It's not. It makes sense. He put up a solid performance throughout.

2025-09-14 13:21

Heavygod top 3 in achievement already.

2025-09-14 12:31

donked

2025-09-14 12:32

EVP for group-stage is such a dumb decision. No words. HLTV slowly but surely falling down. Respectfully

2025-09-14 12:33

The graphic says ZYWOOT lol

@TheStatsGlazer9000 these EVPs and All stars were really good and everything went as expected for me. what are your thoughts on this?

2025-09-14 12:34

I expected this as well, but I hope in 2026 they will start to value group stage performance less, especially if it's online. I understand though why they had to give donk here to remain consistent in 2025 due to Cologne (kyousuke) and Blast Bounty S2 (ZywOo). I'd prefer it better if online group stage was given 10% weight, LAN group stage 20%, and the rest should be reserved for playoffs. More weight should also be given to performance vs top 5/10 than vs top 20/30/50.

2025-09-14 13:03

"but I hope in 2026 they will start to value group stage performance less, " That's possible. "especially if it's online" they decided in the start of the year to treat online group stage as a weaker LAN group stage with lower weight "More weight should also be given to performance vs top 5/10 than vs top 20/30/50." Reasonable.

2025-09-14 13:18

Donk did face a top 5 team in Furia also he faced the champion of this tournament.

2025-09-14 19:11

They just hating... It was counted less, it was strong competition, and it still was enough to count for an EVP.

2025-09-15 17:28

No doubt donk was great but ain't no way that was worth an evp when they didn't even qualify for playoffs. Must be a #1 race mvp. Why not give it to someone else who at least made it to semis

21 replies

Kyousuke had the same bs at Cologne. Bombed out in group-stage yet got the EVP. #1 race has nothing to do with it, just HLTV doing some silly stuff. Respectfully

2025-09-14 12:38

I mean with kyo it was probably ro please the glazers or sth idk. I understand giving it to someone who was let down by his team in quarters with stats like kyo/donk but no way they hand it out for an online group stage where spirit lost 2/4 games

2025-09-14 12:50

Every time we give a group stage EVP the reaction is the same. If we wanted to be glazed we would never give them out lol. But at the end of the day they're individual awards and it has to be possible to get them even if your team lets you down.

2025-09-14 12:54

Hm, respect it, thanks for answering, I still disagree personally tho. With that being said, why tf is vlast holding half of their S tier event online, that makes goving a group stage evp look worse imo. But can't blame hltv for that lol

2025-09-14 12:55

The problem wouldn’t be so bad if a lot of honourable mentions didn’t get “didn’t prove it in playoffs” all the time. Hypothetically if donk made playoffs then dropped a couple of 1.00 maps would he have not gotten an EVP? Effectively punishing him for making the playoffs? As much as I disagree at least it’s consistent which is fair enough.

2025-09-14 13:58

that phrasing is for players with normal group stages, with a few bad maps, maybe weak opposition, and a lower rating than donk's 1.55, who go in to playoffs needing a tiny little boost to confirm their evp. the example here is frozen, great groups but not as good as donk's, and only needed a little bit from playoffs but didnt manage it in other cases, plenty of mvps probably, the evp is already confirmed before they play a playoff match

2025-09-14 14:32

how good does a player have to perform in playoffs to secure an evp off of an group stage performance? Cause frozen was super good in groups and faced pretty good teams as well (navi and vitality) had great rating against them (1.39 against top 10 so he didn’t just farm ecstatic) and it wasn’t like he completely collapsed on stage dropping 0.7-8 rated games, he only played 2 playoff games and averaged 1.01 which isn’t terrible and even that isn’t enough for an lower tier evp?

2025-09-14 18:08

So if donk had gotten to the playoffs and put up a "frozen-like" performance in the playoffs he would've still gotten EVP?

2025-09-14 21:34

Are EVPs individual or team awards?

Individual ofc but so are mvps too. So why did donk not win the mvp then, his stats are not even matched by zywoo and heavygod together. I understand where you are coming from, I am questioning the reasoning behind goving out group stage evps, no matter to who. Doesn't matter if it's donk, Zywoo or karrigan

2025-09-14 12:53

Then might just have give him an mvp since he has the highest rating and obviously the best player in the event

2025-09-14 14:14

zywoo got 1 evp for groups only too

2025-09-14 15:16

9 replies

and how does that make it better?

2025-09-14 15:44

its not . #66 , i pointed it out because u are biased against donk.

2025-09-14 15:45

why would I be biased against donks when I point out that I don't like group stage evps?

2025-09-14 15:46

because u didnt mention zywoos or kyousukes group stage evps and only said donk got it for #1 race . wich is wrong .

2025-09-14 15:47

yeah that was maybe wrong but that doesn't make it less bs, as I said, neither Zywoo or kyo deserved one either. They all performed admirably but if you/your team can't even make playoffs I'd rather see some players who made at least semis or quarters to win an evp.

2025-09-14 15:49

yes i agree with that

perfect. Wasn't meant to be biased against donk, I love watching donk

2026 is going to be insane if s1mple gets back into t1 . falcons gettings stronger , vitality , spirit , faze maybe , g2 looking good . gona be a nice year . only if game would get a nice update aswell , would be insane. also mongolz aurora , chinese teams improving

2025-09-14 15:51

yeah, imagine the game actually being good on top of that lol. It's crazy how much it has lost compared to csgo (apart from smokes I guess, those looked awful in go)

2025-09-14 16:31

lmao imgur.com/a/lBKkbLA

2025-09-14 12:37

donk rating too high it gave error to the system .. like how can a rating that high not be in playoffs

2025-09-14 15:17

Cant believe we are at the 3rd one this season, at this point i would just put a rule to notbe eligible if no playoff appearance

yeah .. 3rd one is insane and it started with zywoo one , then kyousuke so ofc donk had to get one here too cuz his performance was best out of these 3 ocasions .. but all 3 imo shouldnt have gotten evp.

2025-09-14 15:18

actually, it all started with the xantares one hltv.org/news/40857/the-evps-and-best-fi.. hltv.org/stats/players/matches/7938/xant.. i mean in the lan part he was good vs vita and mid vs g2 and spirit.

2025-09-14 15:57

true forgot about that one , but he played lan part aswell yea. @well EF reached final , the other 3 were purely group stages . so xantares one is at least legit one

2025-09-14 16:00

no hunter or molodoy EVP but donk gets one for online? LOL

2025-09-14 12:39

Another mickey mouse GS EVP.

2025-09-14 12:42

haha the evp page on the actual event

2025-09-14 12:45

Wait, so flamez gets an EVP for online groupstage farming with a 1.00 on stage, but NiKo isn't even considered with a 1.26 third place finish where he farmed vitality and was the only good player in that semis loss against aurora for falcons. Shitshow... Edit: this was for blast london not ewc, I'm dumb like that

Filled with hate because of your name flair and flag. BUT you are ok for pointing out your mistakes. Best regards,

2025-09-14 13:05

Donk's pr insane, getting evp for playing online

Zywoo also got an online evp

2025-09-14 13:01

which one?

2025-09-14 15:39

Blast Bounty Season 1. He got MVP purely for his insane Online stage.

i couldn t find any information about an MVP/EVP given to Zywoo for blast bounty S1.

2025-09-14 20:00

I think he meant Blast Bounty 2, when ZywOo got EVP considering his online stats and wasn't even among top players in the semis hltv.org/news/42480/the-evps-and-all-sta.. Also, check out Cologne 2022 when ZywOo got EVP for the group stage hltv.org/news/34296/the-evps-of-iem-colo..

2025-09-15 00:17

precedents were already set. Xantares and ZywOo got EVP’s for mainly their online performances and kyousuke got EVP for purely group stages. I don’t agree with it in principle but on criteria set previously it’s at least consistent

2025-09-14 12:59

yeah but they should at least make it make sense by explaining it

2025-09-14 20:18

explaining it would put something in writing that people could hold them to in the future when they do another crazy asspull EVP or snub somebody for agenda reasons. like if they don't give zywoo an EVP in a future event to keep up the illusion of a "race" for number 1 player of 2025.

2025-09-15 00:15

Just big event. Not enough for elite.

2025-09-14 13:02

HEAVYGOAT

2025-09-14 13:06

That's insane, so I suppose you can now go 0-3 in Major but have 1.5-1.6+ rating and get an EVP? Loooooooool

2025-09-14 13:17

Also the amount of maps played: 3 for donk and 7/9 for others How can you even compare it? Donk could go 0.6 rating on any of those 4-6 matches and his rating would down greatly....but who cares, right?

2025-09-14 13:22

only if you have big fanbase in the game and to give said person more chance for #1 race. Nobody should get an evp in group stage period.

2025-09-14 15:52

Typical hltv. Ranking for attention not for fairness. They were inconsistent for their ranking with some silly ‘eye testing’ for a long time. 2024 Top players ranking is good examples

Evp for farming online and getting 13-1'd. New low for hltv (because they fucked up with kyousuke and zywoo).

evp for not even making playoffs, nice one

2025-09-14 16:20

kyousuke fully deserved EVP for what he has shown, as his entire team was < 1.00 ZywOo got 1 for free now they had to give donk 1 for free as well. Race can go on ... stop crying glazers.

2025-09-14 16:36

why is number of evps so fluctuating. make it make sense nero please. why some events have tons of evps while other just a few in a seemingly random manner? is it tied to player performances? to event tier? to number of matches? at least it would be great to know how they are given (not in why to each player but more why there are X number of evps in a certain event to add to the already present explanation)

2025-09-14 20:17

this event needed a lot of EVPs so they could sneak donk in.

2025-09-15 00:16

right? sometimes they give 2 EVPs just to give in the next tournament 6 xD

2025-09-19 15:19

Someone said it is like a threshhold. If the player is above a certain treshhold they get evp. My doubt about this is how much influence does playoffs have above groups, how much team performance influences it and how much influence is the player performance against top 5 and top 10 has

2025-09-19 17:16