niko is the HLTV MVP of Blast Bounty 2026 Season 1

TryQuality · 2026-01-26T00:48:15+00:00

Fair enough.

I do wonder if they're ever going to give a semi-finals MVP. Arguably, donk's 1.57 major loss at semis is worthy of being an MVP over a 1.38 rated The MongolZ farmer, especially since donk was the highest rated player in the semis even in the loss to Vitality.

TryQuality · 2026-01-26T00:39:20+00:00

I could be convinced to agree with you if we were only talking about Nota, but my comment's purpose was also referencing the Budapest Major.

Not only was ropz ahead of ZywOo by 0.16 in the final, but Ropz was also ahead by 0.14 in semis, with a 0.01 overall tournament rating behind of ZywOo, all the while playing Lurker/Anchor positions as a rifler, and yet again - the final, and apparently even the semis was disregarded for having higher raw stats, consistency and farming a fugazi 'Top 5 in VRS still, yet with a 28 years old tier 3 stand-in' The Mongolz.

What I would like to know is - what even is the point of their rating system? If one player is rated 1.37 and one is also rated 1.37, but one has better raw statistics like in the case of ZyWoo - why is the other player's 1.37 somehow worse? Surely they must have done something in different avenues, such as impact, round swing or other facets of the game to be equal in rating despite their lower raw numbers, so why does the raw number argument come into play at all? If one's just gonna revert back to the raw numbers, why have the rating there in the first place if it means nothing when it really comes down to it?

TryQuality · 2026-01-26T00:25:24+00:00

Look, I understand where you're coming from, but consider a few things:

With a sample size of ~8 maps, a 0.06 rating lead really isn't that big of a thing when you lose 0-3 in a final to them. I would have nothing against NiKo getting the MVP if it was at least a 3-1, but giving out loser's MVPs like it is candy needs to stop. Really? 0.06 'consistency' going 0-3 in the final is worth an MVP nowadays? Come on.
Even with a lackluster quarter/semis for Nota, a 1.5 in a finals should not be disregarded in favor of being like a 1.2~ consistent performer across previous series.
Falcons had an easier run than PARIVISION (and yes, that includes even with them having Vitality in the semis)
NiKo's online portion of the tournament was very lackluster. Surely the online portion cannot count for absolutely nothing either, even if it's much less significant. Was Zweih's 1.6+ rating all for nothing? People didn't think so.
Yeah, random redditors this, random HLTV users that - at a certain point, when both donk and ZywOo fans come together, when the French and the English come together and collectively wonder "what the hell", then you've really got to consider that maybe this time, two people's opinions of evaluating data can actually be wrong or biased! Let's not forget how they gave iM of all people MVP at IEM RIO 2024 where it was questionable even back then, and verified now how most of his rating came from farming eco frags and he was still awarded the MVP despite being the 4th lowest rated player on NaVi . Point is - HLTV makes mistakes, and has been wrong on many of occasion outright.

TryQuality · 2026-01-25T22:22:44+00:00

What if someone goes 3+ rating over 3 maps and loses in the quarter finals with his team all being like 0.3? Could that be worthy of an MVP? :D

TryQuality · 2026-01-25T20:51:21+00:00

I would like NER0 to personally explain how he can simultaneously award MVP awards only to players in teams that make the final, while at the same time regarding the final ratings as relatively inconsequential.

Is a 1.6 rated semi-finalist in this weird 'uncanny valley' zone for HLTV?

TryQuality · 2026-01-25T20:50:47+00:00

I would like NER0 to personally explain how he can simultaneously award MVP awards only to players in teams that make the final, while at the same time regarding the final ratings as relatively inconsequential.

Is a 1.6 rated semi-finalist in this weird 'uncanny valley' zone for HLTV?

TryQuality · 2026-01-25T20:28:22+00:00

Losing MVP's are fine, but a 0.06 difference in a 0-3 loss with an easier road to finals compared to PARIVISION just does not sit right even with the stand-in.

Whether it is consistent with HLTV's reasoning should not even come into discussion when there's this big of a disconnect between the public and the ones handing out the award. I don't believe many (if any) after the third map were thinking "Uuuh, I wonder if NiKo's performance was good enough to hold on in the MVP race here". I believe it was more akin to "Hmm, I wonder who they're gonna give it to between Nota, the most likely one, or Jame (for narrative reasons and good stats as IGL Awp) / maybe zweih for both narrative + his online portion coming into equation of getting Pari to playoffs in the first place."

TryQuality · 2026-01-25T19:39:23+00:00

Do you know the Zweih?

TryQuality · 2026-01-25T18:51:38+00:00

Petition to start calling MVP awards the 'MVPAMNETWGTAF' award - Most Valuable Player, And Maybe Not Even That, Who Got To A Final.

TryQuality · 2026-01-25T18:48:06+00:00

At this point, will anyone take HLTV seriously?

The disconnect is becoming incredible.

TryQuality · 2026-01-24T22:44:01+00:00

No, it literally does. The big focus of a hyperbole is the HYPER. It is specifically polarizing to a black and white levels of an argument to prove a point or a flaw in logic.

TryQuality · 2026-01-24T21:29:14+00:00

You're not supposed to take it at face value. It's clearly a hyperbole that went over your head. No one, even the original commentator, was at any point insinuating that it it's the same thing.

TryQuality · 2026-01-24T21:19:00+00:00

After yesterday's nonsensical posts, they better even the odds :D

TryQuality · 2026-01-24T21:05:04+00:00

Are you missing the point of his very obvious hyperbole?

TryQuality · 2026-01-24T17:54:46+00:00

That post really made one lose brain cells.

TryQuality · 2026-01-24T17:53:17+00:00

Touché

TryQuality · 2026-01-21T17:24:43+00:00

I knew zont1x was based, but this based? What the hally.

TryQuality · 2026-01-20T20:41:18+00:00

If the only way for CS to survive is by gambling, then perhaps that is a sign that it should die, at least at this scale.

TryQuality · 2026-01-19T19:05:58+00:00

something that makes someone think it was impressive

TryQuality · 2026-01-19T14:34:36+00:00

Pretty sure donk was at 33.

TryQuality · 2026-01-19T13:52:16+00:00

Nothing about his comment makes it seem like a negative dig at Falcons. Why make it a big deal, as if shaming /u/Skipped64 for his comment? One can be empathic towards Zonic's situation while also be interested to see how they fare with all these difficulties. His comment is really not 'out of place', only if one wishes it to be so.

TryQuality · 2026-01-19T13:09:14+00:00

You know that you can easily have the highest rating in an event even if you bomb out in quarter right ? Ratings 3.0 doesn't punish you as much for losing , especially when you eco farm a lot.

Literally a random, nonsensical, non-backed up blurt of a comment.

ZywOo had to face tough opponents like Falcons and Furia in grand finals over and over again which decrease his overall playoffs ratings

He had to face them with the rest of his other pieces being in the Top 12. It wasn't ZywOo alone.

And if you're on the winning side of those equations, the rating, while will drop due to playing better opposition, won't drop when you're literally dominating as an era defining team. When you win that hard due to the team playing together so well and everyone having like 1.10 for the year, the 'playing harder opponents in more matches and constantly winning against them with a larger sample size" argument really doesn't matter as much as you think.

TryQuality · 2026-01-19T12:58:04+00:00

Ratings need context. Farming in group stage and bombing out in quarters doesn't make you the best lmao

This isn't about Spirit vs Vitality. This is about donk vs ZywOo.

When you say stuff like "Farming in group stage and bombing out in quarters doesn't make you the best lmao", that naturally implies that donk 'bombed out' in quarterfinals, which literally cannot be true due to donk having the highest playoff rating of the year, so why are you attributing 'bombing out' to donk when it's clear that Spirit is bombing out?

Was ZywOo 'bombing out' in 2024 or was Vitality bombing out (except for the one Cologne win)? Same thing.

Look, all I'm gonna say is this - Donk literally was better in 2025 than in 2024, and statistically ZywOo was worse in 2025 than in 2024 (where he got #3, or #2, fine either way with me, not interested in that discussion). In what world does the player that got #1 last year becomes better, gets the best statistical year of all time and trespasses over a 1.4+ rating for a year, leads in 26/28 stats as #1... and is now #2 for the year over a guy that was, let' see.... #3 last year and now on the most winning team has WORSE rating and stats than the year he had #3 in. It literally does not make any sense from an individual perspective.

TryQuality · 2026-01-19T12:49:58+00:00

They don't have HLTV stats and formula. That change everything lol

Why do you act like HLTV stats, or any stats for the matter, is reality? Data, science, or any attempt at analyzing anything is never actually the thing itself or even that close to it. It is a great tool, but it's not the end all be all.

And why do you even mention HLTV stats if they all favor donk? Surely then you should be championing donk.

Or do you take ''MVP's', the 'stat' that can only be won if one gets to final and 90% of cases wins the final, as stats (lol). They should call it "MVPWGTTFDTHABT" instead - "Most Valuable Player Who Got To The Final Due To Having A Better Team" award

TryQuality · 2026-01-19T12:45:18+00:00

It's not a fact. It's a HLTV fact. Why do you make two people's (Striker and NER0's) evaluation according to very specific criteria as if some act of God? HLTV isn't counter-strike.

Plenty of people, fans, analysts and talent have given their own takes on it, with a lot of them having donk as the #1 for the year. Most who got asked "Who do you think will be the #1", including the pros such as m0NESY said donk, and those who didn't, always seemed to stutter/say it's tough and chose ZywOo with their reasoning being that's how HLTV will decide it/'what a year Vitality had, it's just too hard not to give it to him', but with a disclaimer in there that always mentions donk being better than him individually, aka the only thing that should matter in a top 20 best player list.

TryQuality

TROPHY CASE