17-year-old Donk has emerged as Counter-Strike’s new opposition obliterator, record smasher, and Katowice trophy holder.
The 17-year-old Donk led Team Spirit to a sweeping victory, with performances that looked like pros and held on consistently, eventually winning the M.V.P. award at the end of the tournament.
He only joined Team Spirit in July 2023 from the academy as he became a pro; less than a year later, his I.E.M. Katowice grand final performance earned him a 1.93 rating with a 124.0 ADR. He made 82 kills with only 40 deaths, becoming the youngest player to ever lift the IEM Katowice trophy and the youngest to win an IEM Katowice MVP.
He matched his performance in the early stages of the competition with his grand final performance, achieving 261 kills in 12 maps and averaging 21.75 kills per map overall, all while playing MR12 over the course of IEM Katowice.
No Katowice player in history has managed to achieve such performances at the Spodek as the Russian CS2 machine did, having also wrapped up the competition with a 1.70 rating.
Only Niko from 2016 came the closest to Donk’s new record with a 1.51 rating over five group stage maps. Thus, Donk’s statistics shocked the Counter-Strike community, with many of them reacting on social media.
Team Liquid’s IGL, cadiaN, also jumped in to comment, stating that perhaps it is a cheat code.
“Players having a meeting in regards to if Donk should be allowed for next tournament or not.” cadiaN said.
However, Donk has made his mark on Counter-Strike with a strong Katowice debut and IEM win. If he remains consistent in the coming years, he may come for ZywOo’s throne as the best player in the world.
In the final, FaZe picked Nuke, and Spirit chose the CT side as Donk aggressively took over Outside, winning numerous duels. Spirit’s solid defense and rotations secured them Nuke with a 13-9. FaZe fell short on Mirage as it ended 13-1 in favor of Spirit, while the third map was completely dominant by the Russian side, who crushed FaZe with a 13-3 score.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
