HLTV, formerly an initialism of Half-Life Television, is a news website and forum which covers professional ''

Counter-Strike 2 ''Counter-Strike 2'' is a 2023 free-to-play Tactical shooter, tactical first-person shooter video game, game developed and published by Valve Corporation, Valve. It is the fifth entry in the ''Counter-Strike'' series, developed as an updated v ...

'' esports news, tournaments and statistics. It is one of the leading websites within the ''

Counter-Strike ''Counter-Strike'' (''CS'') is a series of multiplayer tactical first-person shooter video games, in which opposing teams attempt to complete various objectives. The series began on Windows in 1999 with the release of the first game, '' Counte ...

'' community with over 4 million unique visitors each month. In February 2020, the site was acquired by the sports betting group Better Collective.

History

HLTV was founded in 2002 by Martin "Martin" Rosenbæk and Per "Nomad" Lambæk. It was initially created to host recordings of ''

Counter-Strike 1.6 ''Counter-Strike'' (also known as ''Half-Life: Counter-Strike'' or ''Counter-Strike 1.6'') is a 2000 Tactical shooter, tactical first-person shooter game developed by Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Studios. It is the first installmen ...

'' matches, although it grew to include ''

'' and ''

Half-Life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay. Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to: Film * Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang * ''Half Life: ...

'' news. HLTV started storing GOTV demos for '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' when they were introduced in 2012. It has since evolved to include news, statistics, and analysis for the professional esports scene of ''Global Offensive''. Since late 2015, HLTV ranks the teams based on their own rating system. HLTV have awarded Most Valuable Player (MVP) medals to the highest performing player at each tournament. They also award Exceptionally Valuable Player (EVP) medals to players putting in an above average performance. In 2016, HLTV launched dust2.dk, a website dedicated to the ''Counter-Strike'' scene in Denmark. They followed this up in 2017 by launching dust2.us, a local website for the Americas. Data, such as professional match results, are fed through from the subsidiary websites to HLTV. Since 2010 with the first version of ''Counter-Strike'', HLTV has ranked all of the professional ''Counter-Strike'' players based on their performance that year. In May 2019, HLTV was officially integrated into ''Global Offensive'', where you can now find professional tournaments, provided by data from HLTV. HLTV has received many visual updates throughout the years, with the most recent one taking place in 2017. In 2020, HLTV announced that it and sister site dust2.dk had been acquired by Better Collective, a sports betting group based in Denmark.

HLTV rating

The HLTV rating is the most widely used rating system in ''Counter Strike 2'', and is often used outside of HLTV.

Rating 1.0

Rating 1.0 was introduced to HLTV in 2010 with the first version of ''Counter-Strike''. This rating was based on the number of kills per round, the survival rate of a player per round, and the amount of multikills a player got, which is known as the impact rating. The higher each of these values are, the higher rating a player would get. The HLTV 1.0 rating came under criticism for being too similar to the Kill/Death ratio.

Rating 2.0

Rating 2.0 was introduced to HLTV on June 6, 2017, as an update to Rating 1.0. Added were two new factors, Kill/Assist/Survival/Traded (KAST) and Average Damage per Round (ADR), along with a changed impact rating. KAST measures the percentage of rounds where a player contributes by killing an enemy, assisting a teammate, surviving a round or getting revenge on an enemy for killing a teammate, known as trading. Impact rating is based on the number of multi-kills, opening kills, 1vX situations (

clutches A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does the ...

) won and other undisclosed factors. Rating 2.0 is meant to be more accurate than Rating 1.0, since it includes more factors to measure the player's performance. Despite these new adjustments, it is still considered by some to not cover enough. Generally speaking, AWPers and so-called "star riflers" are favored by this rating. The sniper generally has a higher K/D ratio due to the nature of the weapon, while the star riflers will be put in the most impactful positions on the map. Meanwhile, the players who set up the star players will generally not be favored by this system. This can be through the form of a sacrificial entry fragger who will be traded or a support player throwing utility from the back.

Rating 2.1

Rating 2.1 was introduced in October 2024 to refine the Rating 2.0 formula for Counter-Strike 2. Key changes include reducing the reward for saving in lost rounds, rebalancing sub-ratings for consistency, and updating averages to align with CS2’s mechanics, such as MR12 format and 26-damage assists. This update restores the average player rating to 1.00 over an event, as originally intended for Rating 2.0. The five sub-ratings—Kill, Survival, Damage, KAST, and Impact—were recalibrated to carry equal weight. Saving without contributing to the round now impacts ratings negatively, while assisted kills are rewarded more than before. These changes aim to better reflect player contributions, penalizing passive playstyles and rewarding impactful actions. Rating 2.1 is seen as an interim solution while a broader Rating 3.0 overhaul is under development.

HLTV MVPs

HLTV awards an MVP medal at notable events, which is given to the player they consider had the most impact in the tournament. Starting in 2016, players who win an MVP award are provided a physical medal which are either gold, silver or bronze depending on the significance of the event which it was awarded.

Hall Of Fame

In November 2024, HLTV announced the Hall of Fame, an award given to honor notable retired professional ''

'' players. Each Hall of Fame inductee will receive a

Rolex Rolex () is a Swiss watch brand and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his eventual brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex ...

watch featuring a Hall of Fame inscription on the back of the case. They will also receive a special player profile on the HLTV's website.

Inductees

2024

* Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund * Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg * Emil "HeatoN" Christensen * Tommy "Potti" Ingemarsson

HLTV Top 20 players

Each year, the HLTV staff rank professional ''Counter-Strike'' players based on their performance, and write an article explaining their choice. These rankings are based on how successful the player's team is, the individual performance based on the HLTV Rating 1.0 and Rating 2.0, and MVP/EVP awards given by HLTV. They have ranked both ''Counter-Strike'' and ''Global Offensive'' players. 2012 was excluded due to it being a transition year between ''Counter-Strike'' and '' Counter-Strike: Source'' to ''Global Offensive''. 2010 *1. Yegor "markeloff" Markelov *2. Christopher "

GeT_RiGhT Christopher Alesund (born 29 May 1990), better known as GeT_RiGhT, is a Swedish ''Counter-Strike'' player who is currently a full time streamer. During his time as a member of Ninjas in Pyjamas, he was considered one of the best ''Counter-Strike ...

" Alesund *3. Martin "trace" Heldt *4. Sergey "starix" Ischuk *5. Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev *6. Patrik "

f0rest Patrik Lindberg (born June 10, 1988), known by the pseudonym f0rest, is a Swedish esports player who is considered to be one of the best ''Counter-Strike'' players in the world. Having played competitively since 2005, Lindberg has been widely reg ...

" Lindberg *7. Filip "NEO" Kubski *8. Danny "zonic" Sørensen *9. Andreas "MODDII" Fridh *10. Marucus "delpan" Larsson *11. Jordan "

n0thing Jordan Gilbert (born October 25, 1990), better known as n0thing (pronounced as "nothing"), is an American retired professional ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' player. He previously played as a rifler/lurker for Cloud9. n0thing is one of the ...

" Gilbert *12. Rasmus "Gux" Ståhl *13. Christophe "SIXER" Xia *14. Danny "fRoD" Montaner *15. Roman "roman" Ausserdorfer *16. Johan "face" Klasson *17. Bum-Ki "peri" Jung *18. Richard "

Xizt Richard Landström, better known as Xizt, is a Swedish former professional ''Counter-Strike'' player and coach who is the current head coach of Ninjas in Pyjamas. Until February 2018, he played for Ninjas in Pyjamas, but stepped down following a ...

" Landström *19. Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko *20. Harley "dsn" Örwall 2011 *1. Filip " NEO" Kubski *2. Christopher "

" Alesund *3. *4. Martin "trace" Heldt *5. Patrik "

" Lindberg *6. Wiktor "

TaZ Taz or TAZ may refer to: Geography *Taz (river), a river in western Siberia, Russia *Taz Estuary, the estuary of the river Taz in Russia People * Taz people, an ethnic group in Russia ** Taz language, a form of Northeastern Mandarin spoken by ...

" Wojtas *7. Michael "Friis" Jørgensen *8. Finn "

karrigan Finn Andersen (born 14 April 1990), better known as karrigan, is a Danish-German professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player and captain for FaZe Clan. He has also played for other teams including Fnatic, Team Dignitas, Team SoloMid, Astralis a ...

" Andersen *9. *10. Rasmus "Gux" Ståhl *11. *12. *13. Richard "

" Landström *14. *15. Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev *16. Andreas "MODDII" Fridh *17. *18. *19. Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov *20. Sergey "starix" Ischuk 2013 *1. Christopher "

" Alesund *2. *3. Richard "

shox ''Shox'' (also known as ''Shox: Rally Reinvented'') is an arcade rally racing video game developed by EA UK and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports BIG label in North America and Europe for the PlayStation 2 in fall of 2002. ''Shox ...

" Papillon *4. Mihail "Dosia" Stolyarov *5. Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt *6. Richard "

" Landström *7. Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom *8. Jesper "JW" Wecksell *9. Spencer "Hiko" Martin *10. Ladislav "

GuardiaN Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unit ...

" Kovács *11. *12. *13. *14. Nicolaj "Nico" Jensen *15. Yegor "markeloff" Markelov *16. Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev *17. Eduoard "

SmithZz Edouard Dubourdeaux or SmithZz is a French former professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and former ''Counter-Strike: Source'' player. Career SmithZz first joined VeryGames back in 2008 and went on to have great success in the Counter-Str ...

" Dubourdeaux *18. Peter "

dupreeh Peter Rothmann Rasmussen (born 26 March 1993), better known as dupreeh, is a Danish professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player who most recently played for Team Falcons. He has played for Team Dignitas, Team SoloMid, Astralis, Team Vitality and ...

" Rasmussen *19. *20. Andreas "

Xyp9x Andreas Højsleth, better known as Xyp9x (), is a Danish former professional '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' player and current assistant coach for ''Counter-Strike'' ''2'' team MOUZ. He became the first (along with three of his teammates ...

" Højsleth 2014 *1. Christopher "

" Alesund *2. *3. *4. Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski *5. Jesper "JW" Wecksell *6. Kenny "

kennyS Kenny Schrub (born May 19, 1995 in Sarrebourg (Moselle, France)), better known as kennyS, is a French former professional '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' player. He was named "eSports Player of the Year" at The Game Awards 2015. He was co ...

" Schrub *7. *8. *9. Freddy "

KRIMZ Fnatic (pronounced "fanatic"; also stylised as fnatic or FNATIC) is a professional esports organisation headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Founded on 23 July 2004, it has players from around the world competing in several games. Fnatic' ...

" Johansson *10. Vincent "

Happy Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...

" Cervoni *11. Ladislav "

" Kovács *12. *13. *14. *15. *16. *17. Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt *18. *19. Fabien " KioShiMa" Fiey *20. Nicolai "

dev1ce Nicolai Hvilshøj Reedtz (born 8 September 1995), better known as dev1ce (pronounced and sometimes spelled as device), is a Danish professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player for Astralis. On his first stint in Astralis, he became the first (al ...

" Reedtz 2015 *1. Olof "

olofmeister Olof Kajbjer Gustafsson (born 31 January 1992), better known as olofmeister, is a Swedish professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player for FaZe Clan. He has previously played for H2k, Absolute Legends, LGB eSports, Fnatic, and FaZe Clan. Gustafsso ...

" Kajbjer *2. Ladislav "

" Kovács *3. Nicolai "

" Reedtz *4. Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski *5. Robin "flusha" Rönnquist *6. Kenny "

" Schrub *7. Freddy "

" Johansson *8. Vincent "

" Schopenhauer *9. Nathan "NBK-" Schmitt *10. Jesper "JW" Wecksell *11. Christopher "

" Alesund *12. Peter "

" Rasmussen *13. Richard "

" Papillon *14. *15. *16. *17. Filip " NEO" Kubski *18. *19. *20. Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham 2016 *1. *2. Gabriel "

FalleN Fallen may refer to: People * Carl Fredrik Fallén (1764–1830), Swedish botanist and entomologist * Gabriel Toledo (born 1991), known as FalleN, Brazilian ''Counter-Strike'' player Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Fallen'' (1998 fi ...

" Toledo *3. *4. Oleksandr "

s1mple Oleksandr Olehovych Kostyliev (born 2 October 1997), better known as s1mple, is a Ukrainian professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player for FaZe Clan, on loan from Natus Vincere. He is widely considered as the greatest player in Counter Strike hi ...

" Kostyliev *5. Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski *6. *7. *8. *9. Adil "ScreaM" Benrlitom *10. Robin "

flusha Robin Rönnquist (born August 12, 1993), better known as flusha, is a Swedish former professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player. He previously played for teams such as fnatic and Cloud9. flusha has won 3 CS:GO majors: 2013 DreamHack Co ...

" Rönnquist *11. Nikola "

NiKo Niko may refer to: People The given name is sometimes a short form of Nikola, Nikolas, Nikolaos or others. * Nikō (1253–1314), Japanese Buddhist disciple of Nichiren * Niko (musician), American musician active from 2002 * NiKo (born 1997 ...

" Kovač *12. *13. Kenny "

" Schrub *14. Emil " Magisk" Reif *15. Fernando "fer" Alvarenga *16. Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye *17. Ladislav "

" Kovács *18. Christopher "

" Alesund *19. *20. 2017 *1. *2. Nikola "

" Kovač *3. *4. *5. Nicolai "

" Reedtz *6. Gabriel "

" Toledo *7. *8. Oleksandr "

" Kostyliev *9. Ladislav "

" Kovács *10. *11. Abay "HObbit" Khasenov *12. Jonathan "

EliGE Jonathan Jablonowski, better known as EliGE is an American professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player. Currently playing for FaZe Clan, he is considered to be one of the greatest North American Counter-Strike players of all time. On 7 July 2019, ...

" Jablonowski *13. Andreas "

" Højsleth *14. *15. Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye *16. *17. Dauren "AdreN" Kystaubayev *18. *19. *20. Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski 2018 *1. *2. *3. Nikola "

" Kovač *4. *5. *6. Keith "NAF" Markovic *7. Emil " Magisk" Reif *8. Lukas "

gla1ve Lukas Egholm Rossander (born 7 June 1995), better known as gla1ve, is a Danish professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player for ENCE. Considered one of the best captains in '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', he became the first (along with thr ...

" Rossander *9. Freddy "

" Johansson *10. *11. Ladislav "

" Kovács *12. Russel "

Twistzz Russel David Kevin Van Dulken (born November 14, 1999), better known as Twistzz, is a Canadian professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player for Team Liquid. He has previously played for top teams such as Team SoloMid, Misfits, and FaZe Clan. Twistzz ...

" Van Dulken *13. Andreas "

" Højsleth *14. *15. Jonathan "

" Jablonowski *16. *17. Timothy "" Ta *18. *19. *20. 2019 *1. Mathieu "

ZywOo Mathieu Herbaut (born 9 November 2000), better known as ZywOo, is a French professional ''Counter-Strike'' player for Team Vitality. He is considered one of the best players in ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' history, having been ranked th ...

" Herbaut *2. *3. *4. Jonathan"

" Jablonowski *5. Emil " Magisk" Reif *6. *7. Keith "NAF" Markovic *8. Vincent "Brehze" Cayonte *9. Russel "

" Van Dulken *10. *11. Nikola "

" Kovac *12. *13. *14. Andreas "

" Højslet *15. *16. *17. Freddy "

" Johansson *18. Tsvetelin "CeRq" Dimitrov *19. Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin *20. Ethan "Ethan" Arnold 2020 *1. Mathieu "

" Herbaut *2. *3. *4. Nikola "

" Kovač *5. *6. *7. *8. Jonathan "

" Jablonowski *9. *10. *11. Emil "⁠ Magisk⁠" Reif *12. *13. *14. *15. Ludvig "Brollan" Brolin *16. Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles *17. Freddy "

" Johansson *18. Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato *19. *20. Vincent ⁠"Brehze⁠" Cayonte 2021 *1. *2. Mathieu "

" Herbaut *3. Nikola "

" Kovač *4. Dmitriy "sh1ro" Sokolov *5. Sergey "Ax1Le" Rykhtorov *6. Abai "HObbit" Hasenov *7. Denis "electroNic" Sharipov *8. Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis *9. Valeriy "

b1t Valerij Jevghenijovych Vakhovsjkyj (born January 5, 2003), better known as "b1t", is a Ukrainian professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player for Natus Vincere and a former ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'' player. b1t is considered one of the ...

" Vakhovskiy *10. Dzhami "Jame" Ali *11. Nicolai "

" Reedtz *12. Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač *13. Benjamin "blameF" Bremer *14. Keith "NAF" Markovic *15. Kaike "KSCERATO" Cerato *16. Martin "stavn" Lund *17. Russel "

" Van Dulken *18. Robin "

ropz Robin Kool (born 22 December 1999), better known as ropz, is an Estonian professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player for Team Vitality. Kool has played in eleven Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Major Championships, Majors, winning the PGL Major An ...

" Kool *19. Jonathan "

" Jablonowski *20. Helvijs " ⁠broky" Saukants 2022 *1. Oleksandr "

" Kostyliev *2. Mathieu "

" Herbaut *3. Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov *4. Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov *5. Nikola "⁠

" Kovač *6. Helvijs " ⁠broky" Saukants *7. Ilya " ⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov *8. Robin "

" Kool *9. Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato *10. Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund *11. Russel "

" Van Dulken *12. Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer *13. Håvard "⁠

rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...

" Nygaard *14. Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač *15. Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis *16. Valeriy "

" Vakhovskiy *17. David "frozen" Čerňanský *18. Lotan "Spinx" Giladi *19. Yuri "yuurih" Santos *20. Dzhami "Jame" Ali 2023 *1. Mathieu "

" Herbaut *2. Nikola "

" Kovač *3. Robin "

" Kool *4. Ilya " ⁠m0NESY⁠⁠" Osipov *5. Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi *6. Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García *7. Oleksandr "

" Kostyliev *8. Dmitry "sh1ro" Sokolov *9. Martin "stavn" Lund *10. Helvijs " ⁠broky" Saukants *11. Nicolai "

" Reedtz *12. David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský *13. Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač *14. Guy "NertZ" Iluz *15. Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard *16. Benjamin "blameF" Bremer *17. Emil " Magisk" Reif *18. Casper "cadiaN" Møller *19. Kaike "⁠KSCERATO⁠" Cerato *20. Russel "

" Van Dulken 2024 *1. Danil "⁠ donk⁠" Kryshkovets *2. Ilya " ⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov *3. Mathieu "⁠

⁠" Herbaut *4. Nikola "

⁠" Kovač *5. Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavičius *6. Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov *7. Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan *8. Helvijs " ⁠broky⁠" Saukants *9. Valeriy "⁠

⁠" Vakhovskiy *10. David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský *11. Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov *12. Mario "⁠malbsMd⁠" Samayoa *13. Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi *14. Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman *15. İsmailcan "

XANTARES İsmailcan Dörtkardeş (born 7 August 1995), better known as Xantares (stylized in all caps), is a Turkish professional ''Counter-Strike 2'' player for Aurora Gaming. Playing as an entry-fragger, Xantares is considered the best Turkish FPS play ...

" Dörtkardeş *16. Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan *17. Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo *18. Robin "⁠

⁠" Kool *19. Jonathan "⁠

" Jablonowski *20. Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás

References

External links

*{{official website} Counter-Strike Video game Internet forums Video game news websites