Donk’s road to the Shanghai Major MVP title is complete as Spirit defeat FaZe.
Team Spirit has ascended the Counter-Strike 2 mountain, taking down FaZe Clan 2-1 (13-8, 6-13, 13-11) to become major champions at the Shanghai Major tonight.
At the forefront is Danil "donk" Kryshkovets, who was instrumental in Spirit's road to the trophy lift. The Russian phenom broke records on his way to major glory, and the win has accentuated his claim as the best player in the world.
Donk becomes youngest Major MVP in Counter-Strike history
Donk has stormed away from Shanghai with more than a major title. The 17-year-old prodigy was also crowned HLTV's MVP at the Shanghai Major, setting a record as the youngest major MVP in Counter-Strike history.
Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye previously held the title of youngest MVP after Astralis' win back at the ELEAGUE Major in Atlanta in 2017. But donk has snatched the record and in thrilling fashion: the Russian rifler wraps the event with a ridiculous 1.49 HLTV rating and +97 kill differential.
It's more than likely his effort in China wraps up the player of the year award in what has been the best rookie calendar year since Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut burst onto the scene.
FaZe came out confidently on Nuke in the final but donk struck back after the pistol with a three-kill Deagle round. From there, Spirit took control on the CT side, with FaZe's round wins taking incredible feats of individual play.
But Spirit hit back in kind, and not just through donk, but also Boris "magixx" Vorobyev. The 21-year-old's play has been heavily panned by pundits but on Nuke he stepped up in a big way.
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With the half split at 6-6, another donk multi-kill in the pistol set up for a quick second half and magixx took control, finishing the map with 25 kills as Spirit put FaZe's map pick behind them 13-8.
FaZe weren't lying down without a fight, however. Robin "ropz" Kool, who has also surged back into form in Shanghai, roared to life on Ancient as FaZe fired back.
Karrigan's men converted an 8-4 lead into a 13-6 win quickly before donk (19-16) or magixx (22-15) could work their way back into the map. It led to a showdown on Dust 2 to decide the major — but FaZe were never in it.
Dust 2 is arguably Spirit's home map and one of donk's best, and he showed off in style. The rifler recorded six multi-kills and 18 frags by halftime, and after a won pistol at 8-4 it was all but over.
FaZe began engaging the magic and through some team brilliance brought the map back to life. From 12-5 down FaZe fought back, defusing twice on their way to a six-round comeback. But in the final moment at 12-11, sh1ro held on in the one-versus-one to claim the victory.
Donk finished Dust 2 with a 30-kill game and a +25 kill differential across the series — a 1.98-rated map — and immediately picked up the tournament MVP thereafter.
Spirit's win wraps up the Shanghai Major and the competitive season, with the scene now entering hibernation for the holidays before resuming in early 2025. Attention now turns to the post-season roster shuffle. With top teams not even waiting for the major to wrap before making moves, we're expecting some big names pulling on new colors in the new year.
For more CS2 news and coverage, check out esports.gg.
