These twelve players made the cut and were up for vote for Hall of Fame induction.
The HLTV Hall of Fame will announce the first four members soon, with the official induction following at the HLTV Awards on January 11, 2025.
But first, we wish to honor all 12 players who have earned nominations this year.
Hall of Fame 2024 nominees are:
Raphael “cogu” Camargo
Brazilian CS, as we know it, would be drastically different if it weren’t for cogu, one of the finest AWPers of the 2000s. He helped MIBR win two CPL titles and an ESWC crown and inspired a new generation of players, including Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo.
Antonio “cyx” Daniloski
The German was one of the most promising 1.6 players in Europe and helped turn MOUZ into a global force in the game. He tragically lost his life in 2010 in a car accident while returning home from Frankfurt Airport after missing his flight to Shanghai, where he was due to compete in the IEM5 Global Challenge.
Kenny “kennyS” Schrub
Renowned for his lightning-fast reflexes and aggressive playstyle, kennyS‘s ‘Magic Stick’ was a regular feature in frag movies that made people fall in love with the game. His dominance with the sniper played a big part in Valve’s nerf of the weapon, but the Frenchman stayed at the top of the game for a long time after that.
Keun-Chul “solo” Kang
There was a before and after solo for Asian CS. He helped put South Korea on the map in 2005 when he inspired project_kr to a runner-up finish at WEG Season 3. His skillset was on par with the world’s best, and his dedication and talent were rewarded in 2010, when his WeMade FOX team won WEM.
Emil “HeatoN” Christensen
The first global CS superstar, HeatoN turned spraying into an art form and helped CS to new levels of popularity as part of NIP and SK Gaming. His eco ace against 4Kings at CPL Winter 2001 remains one of the most popular plays in the franchise.
Tommy “Potti” Ingemarsson
His name may not be as recognized as HeatoN’s, but he was just as important to the rise of Swedish CS as his countryman and teammate. He was consistently one of the best players in the first half of the 2000s and remained a formidable closer of rounds until his retirement in 2006.
Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg
With a career spanning both Counter-Strike 1.6 and CS:GO, f0rest was a force to be reckoned with for nearly two decades. His crowning achievement was being a part of the historic NIP lineup that achieved an unparalleled 87-0 undefeated streak during CS:GO’s early years.
Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund
Another member of the legendary NIP 87-0 roster and two-time player of the year, GeT_RiGhT reinvented the lurking role in modern Counter-Strike and left an everlasting mark on how the game is played today.
Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer
olofmeister was the driving force behind fnatic’s dominant run in 2015, the year he was crowned HLTV’s best player in the world. He is also the first player to be immortalized with an in-game graffiti on Overpass after he defused the bomb while being on fire from a Molotov in the semi-finals of ESL One Cologne 2014.
Yegor “markeloff” Markelov
The Ukrainian achieved superstar status as part of the NAVI squad that established an era in 2010. A hyper-aggressive AWPer, markeloff helped to revolutionize the role, and he is still regarded as one of the best snipers in the history of the franchise. He was named the best player in the world in 2010 and ranked third the following year.
Kyle “Ksharp” Miller
The first true North American star thanks to his flashy AWP and quick reflexes, Ksharp played a key role as X3 and Team 3D were consistently at the top during the franchise’s early days, winning back-to-back WCG gold medals, one WCG silver and two CPL titles.
Danny “fRoD” Montaner
fRoD picked up where Ksharp left off and became the beacon for North American AWPers. His dominant performance in Complexity’s victory at ESWC 2005 established him as one of the finest players in the world, and he remained an elite-level competitor for several years, even after returning from the CGS.
These nominees were proposed and then voted on by the Hall of Fame Committee. Each committee member voted for five candidates, ranking them from first to fifth and giving them from five to one point, respectively. After tallying the votes, four players were significantly ahead of the rest. These inductees will be revealed ahead of the HLTV Awards, but the official induction will happen at the gala ceremony in Belgrade.
Reminder: only those who are not actively competing can be nominated and voted for the Hall of Fame.
The voting was done by the Hall of Fame 2024 Committee, ten people who have committed their lives to playing, writing about, or working in Counter-Strike. The Committee was selected to provide coverage of different aspects of competitive Counter-Strike, as well as regions where it is played.
Hall of Fame 2024 Committee:
Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill (Player/Talent, Oceania)
Sudhen “Bleh” Wahengbam (Talent, Asia)
Stephanie “missharvey” Harvey (Player/Talent, North America)
Lucas “LucasAM” Aznar Miles (Journalist, Europe)
Per “Nomad” Lambæk (Industry, Europe)
Luis “MIRAA” Mira (Journalist, Europe)
In addition to the Committee, the Hall of Fame has a Board that does not participate in the voting, but creates the framework and oversees the project. The Hall of Fame Board consists of two HLTV members, Head of Operations Zvonimir Burazin and CEO Martin Rosenbaek, as well as one member Valeriy Kharitonov.
Below you can find the details of the HLTV Hall of Fame. As always, we are open to feedback and will be listening to the community discorse to continuously improve this initiative.
Hall of Fame purpose, prerequisite, criteria
Purpose
The purpose of the HLTV Hall of Fame is to celebrate excellence, honor exceptional contributions, and recognize the historical significance in the field of competitive Counter-Strike.
Prerequisite
Only those who are no longer actively competing are eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Active players and coaches are not eligible for induction.
Note: In our initial approach to the Hall of Fame, we decided to treat one’s playing and coaching career as one competitive career. This means players such as Filip “NEO” Kubski were not eligible for induction in the 2024 as they were considered active competitors.
Criteria
These are the elements on which a nominee will be judged:
– Achievements: Significant competitive accomplishments or contributions.
– Impact: Having a positive effect, particularly one lasting after the person’s active career ends.
– Longevity: Consistency and length of time spent achieving excellence.
Hall of Fame Process
1. Pitching: Every Committee member will anonymously submit up to five names they think deserve to be inducted to the Hall of Fame and provide 1-2 paragraph long reasoning.
2. Reviewing: Hall of Fame Board will filter the submissions by removing duplicates, those that don’t pass the prerequisite, or don’t score highly on the criteria. Then, the 10 best candidates will be selected based on the number of nominations. The board reserves the right to add one candidate to the voting in case they deem a worthy candidate has been skipped by the committee.
Note: Due to the high amount of notable players, the Board selected 12 best candidates for the 2024 voting instead of 10. No candidates were added outside of those nominated by the Committee.
3. Voting: The Committee will receive the list of candidates and pick their #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5, giving them 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 point respectively.
4. Results: The Committee votes will be tallied, and the top-ranked nominees will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
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