In 2023, professional Counter-Strike fans saw a real changing of the guard. Our heroes of old are beginning to depart alongside CS:GO, with Counter-Strike 2 quickly ushered in as the year drew to a close.
Old tales of success and failure have been told, paving the way for new storylines to emerge and grow. The new crop of talent is already beginning to shape what competitive Counter-Strike will look like going forward, while the players who still dominate today are showing our future prodigies the path to greatness.
Here are our top picks for the CS2 players to watch as the 2024 competitive season approaches.
Must-watch CS2 pros in 2024
Danil “donk” Kryshkovets
For those who haven’t been keeping up with competitive CS, donk is the talk of the scene. The Russian wunderkind is only 16 but has already been turning heads and is the newest player to emerge from the CIS Counter-Strike factory of prodigal talent.
Donk is a product of Team Spirit’s outstanding academy system, with alumni such as Robert “Patsi” Isyanov, Pavel “s1ren” Ogloblin, and Aleksandr “KaiR0N” Anashkin all previously sporting the Spirit Academy logo, just to name a few. But it’s the way donk has conducted himself through his rise to the main roster that piqued our interest.
Spirit Academy was rather inconsistent across 2023, with the squad finding occasional success against tier-two and tier-three opposition in Europe. But in almost every event, donk topped the charts, recording an astonishing 1.29 HLTV rating over 239 maps in 2023. Now, in 2024, he’s stepping up, joining the main Team Spirit roster and entering the server alongside the likes of AWPing mastermind Dmitriy “sh1ro” Sokolov and fellow academy graduate Myroslav “zont1x” Plakhotja.
Many fans will be hoping donk makes it to his first Major via the European RMR early in 2024.
Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov
Speaking of consistent and successful CIS prodigies, we can’t skip over Natus Vincere recruit w0nderful. Donk may be three years his junior, but w0nderful brings a little more experience in higher-tier European Counter-Strike to the table after stints with Hellraisers, Team Spirit, and Sprout.
W0nderful has recorded 56 matches on LAN too, and while he’s been a little rough around the edges at tier-one events—to be expected for a young rookie—he’s shown class and skill in a number of ill-favored matchups against AWPers with 10 times the experience and knowledge.
The one problem, though, is he needs to fill a s1mple-sized gap, with the 19-year-old taking the Undertaker’s position on NAVI back in October after the former announced he’d be taking a break from competitive CS2. We’ll see if w0nderful has what it takes in 2024 to succeed with one of the most storied organizations in esports.
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
We aren’t keeping our list purely locked to upcoming rookies. ZywOo’s performance in 2023 has been a joy to watch, but 2024 will be the true test to see where he ranks among the greatest.
He’s got the Major under his belt after an MVP-worthy effort in Paris and has maintained his mid-1.20 HLTV rating for four years now. Many didn’t think the 23-year-old Frenchman had it in him to keep posting these top-tier performances at the biggest events, but his 1.30 rating in big events this year that demolishes next-best sniper Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz says otherwise.
ZywOo is the complete package, and after Vitality’s roster revamp with William “mezii” Merriman and Shahar “flameZ” Shushan joining the fold, the squad is one of the most entertaining to watch live and online. Let’s see if ZywOo can set records in 2024.
Felipe “skullz” Medeiros
Skullz lands on my list primarily due to the pressure he’s set to face in the newly revamped Team Liquid roster. The 21-year-old Brazilian joins a Liquid roster hoping to recapture the community after truly horrid results in 2023 with the org’s EU/NA mix-squad experiment.
Skullz comes across after a year with paiN Gaming, a Brazilian team who were all but wiping out their domestic rivals in South America but struggling to convert events and boot camps overseas. Skullz was far from the problem with the squad, however; he immediately made an impact at ESL Challenger Melbourne, with the team taking home the winner’s trophy over Imperial.
Since then, skullz has remained a consistent factor and is easily the next Brazilian prodigy in line for a step up—which this Liquid opportunity is sure to provide. Whether the squad can mesh together remains to be seen, but watch out for skullz in the Liquid colors in 2024.
Ana “ANa” Dumbravă
We’re wrapping up this list with one of the greatest female competitors in Counter-Strike history in ANa, mainly because of the streak she and Nigma Galaxy Female are on heading into 2024’s revamp of the ESL Impact circuit.
ANa and Nigma proved unstoppable across 2023, taking out the four offline finals the team attended, including the all-important ESL Impact League Season Four finals in Valencia, Spain. NAVI Javelins pushed them at times in 2023, but ANa ensured her rivals wouldn’t be breaking her streak with a 13-6, 13-0 wipeout in the grand final. In total, ANa wraps 2023 with a 1.29 HLTV rating—a massive leap from 2022’s already-impressive 1.22.
In their limited matches against male squads in 2023, Nigma Galaxy struggled to leave a mark. But 2024 could be the year a Counter-Strike Major has its first female competitor—and if anyone can pull it off, it’s ANa.
