The most responsible player for establishing Moscow Five as one of the biggest challengers of world's top teams during 2011 was Eduard "ed1k" Ivanov. He earned the 12th place on our list thanks to his impressive form throughout the year, while he even further contributed in unmeasurable ways as the team's in-game leader.

Basic information

Player: Eduard "ed1k" Ivanov
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: 0.79
Deaths per round: 0.64
Rating: 1.17 (?)
Maps played: 61
MoM: 9 times top rated in a match
Best tournament: Xperia PLAY
Best map: de_nuke
Most notable stat: 4th most dominant, most kills with Desert Eagle (86)

Eduard "ed1k" Ivanov first turned attention to himself in April 2010 when he joined UNiTED to the surprise and even disapproval of many in the international audience. Only a month later he proved himself with an impressive individual showing at Arbalet Cup Europe, where despite not making it to the playoffs he performed great against several big teams.

In July, the team lost Arbalet's sponsorship, and the three Russian players who were now without a home formed a mix-team named [u.s.b] for the country's WCG qualifier. They ended up winning it and showing that they are the best in Russia, which made the MYM organization approach them. Thanks to that Ivanov gained further international experience at e-Stars Seoul, but unfortunately later had to miss World Cyber Games due to visa issues. In October, big changes in the lineup took place and the new team with Ivanov at the helm set out to become one of the world's best.

One man army in the beginning of the year

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
IEM5 European Championship Finals (Quarter-final)	1.03 (1st)	+5%
All-Star nomination 2nd best in pistol-rounds

The first international tournament for the new MYM lineup was IEM5 European Championship Finals in Kiev, Ukraine. In a tough group with mTw, Fx, SK, mousesports and eSahara, the team made it through at the expense of the Swedes. Although they later lost to Natus Vincere in the quarter-final, MYM showed that they shouldn't be taken lightly, while Ivanov was their best rated player. He particularly shined in their key victory over SK Gaming (18:4 score, 1.77 rating), and also put up a great fight against Na´Vi with a 35:26 score in the first map. For that performance he earned his first All-Star nomination of the year.

In February, the Moscow Five organization was formed and they brought on the MYM team right away. Their first tournament was ASUS Winter and they won it without dropping a single map. Ivanov was one of the two main stars of the event, along with his teammate Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov, having an impressive 1.37 rating.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
IEM5 World Championship (Group stage)	1.19 (1st)	+41%
All-Star nomination

At the beginning of March, they attended IEM5 World Championship and had a disappointing performance, not making it out of group stage. Ivanov however was a one man army at this event, recording a 1.19 rating which was an incredible 41% above his team's average (more than any other player's at any other event), resulting in another All-Star nomination.

However, due to the poor result, the team concluded that they needed to change something, so they brought in a young and unknown Alexander "Twist" Sharipov instead of Alexander "xek" Zobkov.

The new lineup made its debut at HLTV.org Xperia PLAY prelude where Moscow Five made it to the semi-final, losing to SK eventually. Ivanov had a solid performance as team's second best with a 1.11 rating.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
Xperia PLAY 2011 (Quarter-final)	1.37 (1st)	+18%
All-Star nomination 2nd best rating (1.37) 2nd best fragger (0.88 KPR) Most dominant Most consistent

Near the end of April at Xperia PLAY in Copenhagen, Denmark, Ivanov proved that he was in the best shape of his career, once more being the best rated in his team. Unfortunately, they didn't make it far once again, losing a very close quarter-final clash to SK Gaming.

Ivanov was the second best rated player of the entire event, and also its most dominant and most consistent player (rating above 1.00 in each of his 10 maps). He particularly shined in a group stage victory over Online Kingdom which propelled his team to the playoffs, having a 28:11 score (2.00 rating) in a 16-7 victory.

In mid-May, the team decided they were better off with Zobkov in the team, so the change was taken back, and it would turn out they would stick to this lineup for the remainder of 2011. Their next event was ASUS Spring where they finished in 3rd place, while Ivanov was again one of the stars of the tournament, second best in his team with a 1.30 rating.

ed1k showing off his deagle skills against Cheap Times in ICSC8

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
DreamHack Summer 2011 (Quarter-final)	1.03 (3rd)	-4%

DreamHack Summer was up next for the Russians, where another quarter-final campaign followed. After making it out of a group containing SK and fnatic, they met with mTw and lost after 3 maps, putting up a solid fight once more. For the first time in 2011, Ivanov didn't shine the brightest, although he still had a solid tournament with a 1.03 rating as team's 3rd best.

ed1k vs playArt at DreamHack Summer

They improved on that result at the ICSC8 finals finishing second behind SK Gaming, while Ivanov was one of the main reasons for that. He was the team's second best with a 1.16 rating, playing consistently well with rating above 1.00 in 10 of his 13 maps.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
GameGune 2011 (9-12th)	1.26 (2nd)	+7%

The Russians continued with hot and cold performances as they traveled to GameGune in July, ending up in a disappointing 9-12th place. They reached the playoffs as usual, but then fell 1-16 to SK Gaming and 10-16 to eSahara in the lower bracket. Ivanov didn't disappoint much though, being the team's second best with a very good 1.26 rating.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
SEC 2011 (Quarter-final)	1.04 (3rd)	-1%

After that, the team needed a break and it turned out we wouldn't see them at an international tournament until October at SEC. Their fortunes didn't change though, as they were stopped at the first step of the playoffs once again, now by the home team AGAiN. Ivanov had an average performance in their four maps with a 1.04 rating as team's 3rd.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
ESWC 2011 (Quarter-final)	1.25 (1st)	+15%
All-Star nomination 4th best rating (1.25) 4th best fragger (0.84 KPR) 4th hardest to kill (0.59 DPR) 5th most consistent

Another quarter-final finish for Moscow Five took place at ESWC, where they lost a close battle with SK for the top place in their group and then fell to Natus Vincere after three maps. In this overall satisfying performance of the team, Ivanov was back to his best, leading the team with a 1.25 rating and for the second time being among top five rated players of an event.

A month later they achieved their biggest success of the year, winning MSI BEAT IT Russia after defeating fnatic in the final. Ivanov didn't excel much, being 4th in his team for the first and only time in 2011 with a 1.08 rating, still playing well enough.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
DreamHack Winter 2011 (Group stage)	0.85 (3rd)	-4%

The MSI BEAT IT Russia success made everyone expect more from the Russians at DreamHack Winter, but they ended up not making it through the group stage due to losses to Natus Vincere and fnatic. In their three matches, Ivanov recorded his worst tournament rating of the year (0.85), although still 3rd in his team.

Tournament (team result)	Rating	Avg% +/-
WCG 2011 (3rd place)	1.22 (2nd)	+2%
All-Star nomination 5th best rating (1.22)

The last major tournament in 2011, World Cyber Games, provided Moscow Five with their most important medals so far, as they returned home with bronze from this prestigious tournament. Although the competition wasn't particularly challenging, they overcame project_kr and mandic before losing to SK Gaming in the semi-final, and then won the 3rd place decider versus NEXT.

Ivanov was an important part of this success, finishing as the team's second best rated with a 1.22 rating, and more impressively as 5th best rated of all players, making it his third occassion to appear in top five of a major event. He played well in every encounter in this tournament, being rated above 1.00 in both group stage matches and all best-of-three matches overall, including the loss to SK.

The most skilled in-game leader

Most in-game leaders fail to impress in the fragging department, often ending up at the bottom of the scoreboard. However, Moscow Five's in-game leader Eduard "ed1k" Ivanov was actually his team's best rated player in 2011, and not only that, but he was one of the best rated in the world with his 1.17 rating in major tournaments.

Although Moscow Five didn't amount to much success, most often ending their campaigns in quarter-finals, Ivanov impressed on multiple occassions and at the same time never let his team down, always being at least their 3rd best. He was nominated for All-Star lineups at five major tournaments, finishing with a top5 rating in three of them.

Even more amazing than his 0.79 kills per round is that he was one of the most dominant players out there (shared 4th best in regard to having rounds with 3 or more kills). Additionally, he was the most consistent player among the current members of our top 20 list with ratings above 1.00 in 67% of his maps.

With all that in mind, Ivanov surely earned a place in this ranking, while on the other hand the fact that he was never even picked for an All-Star lineup and was never nominated for MVP hindered him from being any further up than 12th in this list.

Also, interesting but not very relevant information is that he was the best player with the Desert Eagle, accumulationg 86 total kills with it in major tournaments.

Recommended demos of Eduard "ed1k" Ivanov in 2011:

Opponent	Map	Event	Score	Demo
SK	inferno	IEM5 Eu Finals (Group stage)	18:4	HLTV
Na´Vi	tuscan	IEM5 Eu Finals (Quarter-final, map 1)	35:26	HLTV
Iron Will	nuke	ASUS Winter (Group stage)	40:14	HLTV
UMX	train	IEM5 World (Group stage)	26:17	POV
X	inferno	Xperia prelude (1/8 final, map 1)	22:9	POV
OK	dust2	Xperia PLAY (Group stage #2)	28:11	HLTV
CT	inferno	ICSC8	36:19	HLTV
x-function	train	GameGune (Group stage)	40:7	POV
Fx	dust2	IEM6 GC NY final qual	29:18	HLTV
mouz	mirage	IEM6 GC NY final qual	29:11	HLTV
eSrael	nuke	ESWC (Group stage)	28:7	HLTV
mandic	nuke	WCG (Quarter-final, map 2)	26:16	HLTV

Eduard "ed1k" Ivanov was by far the best rated in-game leader in 2011, but can he continue playing that way in 2012? And more importantly, can he lead Moscow Five to further success? Tell us what you think about that and about his position in this ranking.

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 11.