HLTV Awards 2023: Nominees, Categories and Winners

Rafael Ferreira

Rafael Ferreira

The HLTV Awards 2023 take place on January 13 in Belgrade. Here are the nominees, categories and winners. Updated live.

The winners of the first-ever HLTV Awards 2023 will be unveiled in Belgrade on January 13. The exclusive ceremony will crown the winners of 16 different award categories in Counter-Strike. These include Player of the Year, Team of the Year and IGL of the Year.

HLTV revealed the 4th to 20th place finishers on their website for each category, but the exact podium placement of the final three nominees will be revealed during the HLTV Awards 2023.

For this year's edition, the website added four new categories chosen by the community. Talent, event, streamer, and creator of the year were the new categories for the HLTV Awards 2023.

The winners' list of HLTV Awards 2023

The winners of the HLTV Awards 2023 will be announced on the Twitch stream (above), and we will update this article live!

The three finalists for Player of the Year at the HLTV Awards 2023 (Image via <a href="https://twitter.com/HLTVorg/status/1745912413306659197/photo/1">HLTV's Twitter</a>)
The three finalists for Player of the Year at the HLTV Awards 2023 (Image via HLTV's Twitter)

Player of the Year

Nominees:

  • Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut
  • Nikola "NiKo" Kovač
  • Robin "ropz" Kool

Winner: ZywOo

Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut led Vitality to trophies in 2023 and is named player of the year for the third time. Nikola "NiKo" Kovač took second place, Robin "ropz" Kool rounds out the podium.

Women's Player of the Year

Nominees:

  • Ana "⁠ANa⁠" Dumbravă
  • Victoria "⁠tory⁠" Kazieva
  • Wiktoria "⁠vicu⁠" Janicka

Winner: ANa

The Romanian player won last year's edition and will repeat the feat. ANa was one of Nigma Galaxy's big names for the team's fantastic year in 2023.

Team of the Year

Nominees:

  • FaZe Clan
  • G2 Esports
  • Team Vitality

Winner: Team Vitality

Despite FaZe Clan's great start in CS2, Vitality wins the only Major of the year in the organization's home country. The French also ended the year by beating FaZe on two occasions in the grand final.

Women's Team of the Year

Nominees:

  • Fluxo Demons
  • NAVI Javellins
  • Nigma Galaxy

Winner: Nigma Galaxy

Nigma Galaxy has built a legacy in women's CS2. In 2023, the European team won all editions of ESL Impact. Since 2022 the story has been no different.

Rookie of the Year

Nominees:

  • Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan
  • Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo
  • Guy "⁠NertZ⁠" Iluz

Winner: NertZ

NertZ arrived as a promise at ENCE and quickly established itself as a reality. Now at Heroic, in 2023 NertZ won IEM Dallas.

HLTV 2023 Panel Awards Winners

IGL of the Year

Nominees:

  • Dan "⁠apEX⁠" Madesclaire
  • Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen
  • Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer

Winner: ⁠apEX

Several times contested; the truth is that Vitality under the IGL of apEX practically only knew the taste of victory in 2023. Even with two roster changes in the second half of the year, the team ends the year lifting a major trophy.

AWPer of the Year

Nominees:

  • Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants
  • Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov
  • Mathieu "⁠ZywOo⁠" Herbaut

Winner: ZywOo

The best player of the year is also the best sniper from last season. ZywOo was the big name of 2023 in competitive Counter-Strike.

Anchor of the Year

Nominees:

  • Shahar "⁠flameZ⁠" Shushan
  • Justin "⁠jks⁠" Savage
  • Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif

Winner: Magisk

At the age of 25, he has won five Majors, the last by Vitality in 2023. Magisk followed the path of his compatriot Zonic at the end of the year, without first becoming a fundamental part of Vitality's scheme for the brilliant year.

Closer of the Year

Nominees:

  • David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský
  • Robin "⁠ropz⁠" Kool
  • Lotan "⁠Spinx⁠" Giladi

Winner: ropz

Also the third-best player of the year at the HLTV Awards 2023, ropz is the winner of "Closer of the year". The player was central to FaZe's brilliant start to CS2.

Opener of the Year

Nominees:

  • Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač
  • Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard
  • Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman

Winner: NiKo

G2's great achievements combine with NiKo in great individual form. IEM Katowice and IEM Cologne went to G2 with NiKo being named MVP of the latter.

Coach of the Year

  • Eetu "⁠sAw⁠" Saha
  • Dennis "⁠sycrone⁠" Nielsen
  • Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen

Winner: zonic

Zonic was one of the conductors of several Vitality achievements. The Dane left the organization in October to join the Saudi Team Falcons.

Highlight of the Year

Casper "cadiaN" Møller
Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov
Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut

Winner: ZywOo

ZywOo spreads magic within the server and this is an example of what the Frenchman does time and time again.

HLTV 2023 Community Awards Winners

Talent of the Year

James "Banks" Banks
Conner "Scrawny" Girvan
Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill

Winner: SPUNJ

The Australian talent was one of the voices of 2023, also participating in the famous HLTV Confirmed program.

Event of the Year

  • BLAST.TV Paris Major
  • IEM Cologne
  • IEM Katowice

Winner: BLAST.TV Paris Major

The Paris Major was a success. The local organization, Team Vitality was the big winner with the presence of the club's fans.

Creator of the Year

  • 3KLiksPhilip
  • NADEKING
  • Nartouthere

Winner: 3KLiksPhilip

The content creator has over a million followers on YouTube. Its content focuses a lot on CS2 details and news.

Streamer of the Year

  • Alexandre "gAuLeS" Borba
  • OhnePixel
  • Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson

Winner: OhnePixel

The German streamer won over the community with its watch parties of major Counter-Strike tournaments.