The next name on our list, and also the first new name compared to last year's ranking, is Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov. The Russian pistol master's stable play was one of the main reasons Moscow Five gained international reputation in 2011.

Basic information

Player: Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov
Teams: MYM, Moscow Five
Age: 23

Team achievements in 2011:

1st - MSI BEAT IT Russia, ASUS Winter
2nd - ICSC 8
3rd - WCG, ASUS Spring

Stats from major LAN tournaments in 2011:

Kills per round: 0.77
Deaths per round: 0.64
Rating: 1.13 (?)
Maps played: 61
MoM: 7 times top rated in a match
Best tournament: Xperia PLAY
Best map: de_train
Most notable stat: best pistol player (0.14 pistol frags per round)

The international scene first caught a glimpse of Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov at World Cyber Games 2009, where he carried the Russian representative (with the name CMAX.gg) to a 4th place at the prestigious event. The talent was obvious to everyone from the start and a new star was born. However, he didn't repeat that kind of performance in major tournaments during 2010 while playing with forZe. Near the end of that year, along with his brother Sergey "Fox" Stolyarov, he joined MYM to form the lineup that will become the best Russian team and a big threat to world's best teams.

Breakthrough of the Russians

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
IEM5 European Championship Finals (Quarter-final)	0.94 (5th)	-4%

As 2011 came around, MYM's first opportunity to prove themselves with the new lineup came at IEM5 European Championship Finals. After losing to Fx and mTw at the start of the tournament, the Russians shocked the world by defeating SK Gaming 16-3 and then overcoming eSahara and mousesports to claim a spot in the playoffs (and also in the IEM5 World Championship). The best team of 2010, Natus Vincere were too strong for them eventually, but the Russians showed the potential they have and that they will be a challenger throughout the year.

Stolyarov himself wasn't very influential in his first tournament of the year, recording a below average 0.94 rating as the team's worst player.

In February, a new Russian organization was formed, with the name Moscow Five, and they immediately signed the MYM squad. Their first event under the new colors was ASUS Winter which they strolled through with 12 wins in 12 maps, winning their first title together. It wasn't a big event though, as mostly CIS teams attended, but Stolyarov played impressive being the tournament's best player with a 1.41 rating, top rated in 6 of 12 maps.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
IEM5 World Championship (Group stage)	0.90 (2nd)	+7%

Their first major event under the Moscow Five name didn't go that well though, as they didn't make it out of the group stage at IEM5 World Championship due to losses to mTw, Fx and Brazilians compLexity. Stolyarov had another subpar performance on the big stage, recording his year-low 0.90 rating, although it was the team as a whole that underperformed, as he was their second best, 7% above average.

Following that tournament, Moscow Five removed one of their members, Alexander "xek" Zobkov, and replaced him with a completely unknown Alexander "Twist" Sharipov. The first chance to see them after the change was in our HLTV.org Xperia PLAY prelude online tournament at the beginning of April. They made it as far as the semi-final where they fell to SK, while Stolyarov ended up as the tournament's second best rated with a 1.44 rating, showing signs of things to come. A fragment of his performance at this online tournament can be seen in this highlight ace:

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
Xperia PLAY 2011 (Quarter-final)	1.34 (2nd)	+16%
All-Star nomination Best pistol-round player

As Xperia PLAY came around, the Russians performed better than before, although still reaching only the quarter-final, just as during their previous highest achievement at IEM5 Europe. SK Gaming stood in their way this time, but that match against the Swedes couldn't have gone much closer, with M5 losing 13-16 and 21-25, which again showed that the team is full of potential. Stolyarov himself finally excelled at a major tournament, and even though he wasn't the team's best rated, he was overall the 5th highest rated at the event. He played well in 9 of 10 maps, including the quarter-final against SK where he put up a great fight, which earned him his first All-Star nomination.

Shortly after that they reversed their lineup change, bringing back Zobkov. The team then attended another minor event, ASUS Spring, finishing in 3rd place while Stolyarov had a very good 1.25 rating as the team's 3rd best.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
DreamHack Summer 2011 (Quarter-final)	1.12 (2nd)	+4%
All-Star nomination

The Russians continued attending every tournament out there and the next in line was DreamHack Summer. They reached the playoffs as second from a group containing SK Gaming and fnatic, but fell in the quarter-final again, this time to mTw. Stolyarov kept up with his good form, once more as team's second best with a very good 1.12 rating and another All-Star nomination.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
GameGune 2011 (9-12th)	1.00 (5th)	-16%

The next tournament for them was GameGune, which was probably the biggest disappointment they had all year. After finishing second in their group behind ESC Gaming, they entered the double elimination bracket facing SK Gaming and losing disastrously 1-16. Another defeat followed, to eSahara, which meant they finished in a disappointing 9-12th place. Stolyarov had nothing to be proud of either, as despite an average 1.00 rating, he was the team's worst, particularly in their final three matches, all of which they lost.

After a poor performance at GameGune the team needed a break

e-Stars was the next major event in line, but Moscow Five weren't selected to participate, which meant a break would follow. They announced that officially, skipping ASUS Summer as well due to a need of rest.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
SEC 2011 (Quarter-final)	1.25 (1st)	+19%
All-Star nomination Best pistol-round player

A few months passed before we saw them in action again at Samsung Euro Championship in Poland, at the beginning of October. They easily topped their group, but then met AGAiN in the quarter-final, who put a stop to another campaign of theirs at that stage. Stolyarov was finally the team's first star, and despite only playing 4 maps, he played well in each of them and ended up as second best rated of the entire event with a 1.25 rating. He was also the best pistol-round player of the event, which was his second time (also at Xperia PLAY).

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
ESWC 2011 (Quarter-final)	1.19 (2nd)	+9%
All-Star nomination Best entry killer

The next big event, ESWC, didn't bring them any more fortune either, as after losing a nail-biting group stage encounter to SK Gaming, they had to meet Natus Vincere in the quarter-final. Their campaign ended too soon for their liking again, but they left a good impression against the Ukrainians playing three maps. Stolyarov continued with great form, being one of the team's two stars with a 1.19 rating, and also the best entry killer of the event.

Their biggest success of the year followed at MSI BEAT IT Russia, as they won the title ahead of fnatic in the final. Stolyarov was the team's main star with a 1.17 rating and as the best rated in both maps of the final against the Swedes.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
DreamHack Winter 2011 (Group stage)	1.10 (1st)	+25%

DreamHack Winter followed where they went in with big expectations considering recent success, but that just increased the disappointment that followed. They were also somewhat unlucky to get fnatic and Natus Vincere in their group, but they didn't put up the fight that was expected of them either in the losses to those two teams. Stolyarov continued being the team's best though, having a great 1.10 rating from 3 matches, playing above team's average in each.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
WCG 2011 (3rd place)	1.21 (3rd)	+1%
All-Star nomination 3rd most consistent

The last major event of the year was WCG, at which Moscow Five returned to good form and managed to reach 3rd place, getting their only silverware of the year from major tournaments. SK Gaming was again an insurmountable obstacle for the Russians, now in the semi-final, but on the plus side they did defeat Brazilians mandic in a very close match of the quarter-final. In the tournament where he first shined two years earlier, Stolyarov was again an important part of his team's success. Although only 3rd best rated this time, he had a great 1.21 rating and was Moscow Five's most consistent performer, which earned him his 5th All-Star nomination of the year. Some of his pistol skills could have been seen in this almost-ace against SK Gaming:

Russian pistol master

During most of major tournaments in 2011, Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov established himself as one of world's best in several aspects. His trademark became the use of pistols, as he was the best of all players with them, having 0.14 pistol frags per round, additionally being shared best with the popular Desert Eagle. Although that didn't mean he was the best in pistol-rounds, he excelled in that aspect at several events as well.

He played really well overall too, which is demonstrated with his 5 All-Star nominations during the year and a 1.13 rating. However, the only times he led the team to a first place was at minor tournaments, ASUS Winter and MSI BEAT IT Russia. At major ones, his biggest success was 3rd place at World Cyber Games where he wasn't really the star of the team, while in the rest of events Moscow Five was usually stopped in quarter-finals.

Although he has stats good enough for a higher spot in the list, another thing that hindered him, apart from not leading the team to any major success, was inconsistent play in the first tournaments of the year, as well as not being the team's overall best rated player in major tournaments.

His performance in the second half of 2011 was pretty stable though and Moscow Five managed to achieve some significant success during that time, which will make them a team to watch at the start of 2012.

Recommended demos of Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov in 2011:

Opponent	Map	Event	Score	Demo
DTS	train	ASUS Winter 2011 (1/8 final, map 2)	36:20	HLTV
X	train	Xperia prelude (1/8 final, map 2)	30:8	HLTV
Deathwish	inferno	Xperia prelude (Quarter-final, map 1)	24:13	POV
fnatic	nuke	DreamHack Summer (Group stage)	21:11	HLTV
ESC	tuscan	IEM6 GC NY qual #1	25:9	HLTV
Anexis	nuke	MSI BEAT IT Russia (Quarter-final, map 1)	21:6	HLTV
fnatic	train	MSI BEAT IT Russia (Grand final, map 1)	27:16	HLTV
project_kr	inferno	WCG 2011 (1/8 final, map 2)	27:13	HLTV

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Can Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov continue with his form from the second half of 2011 and help Moscow Five go to the next level during 2012? Tell us what you think and also whether you think he deserved a higher spot in the list and why?

If you want to check out the entire ranking, go to our Introduction article as it will be updated daily until we complete the list. Stay tuned to HLTV.org as tomorrow we will bring you our number 18.