Dota 2 player Malr1ne won Esports Breakthrough Player of the Year award. But some believes CS:GO’s donk deserves it more. We break down the discourse here.
Midlaner of Team Falcons, Malr1ne, just won the Breakthrough Player of the Year at the Esports Awards. Malr1ne won against the likes of Donk in CS2 and Cauazin in VALORANT. The news, however, received mixed responses from the comments of the official announcement. Some congratulated the Falcons' midlaner, but most felt that Team Spirit's Donk deserved the award.
We break down the Malr1ne vs Donk discourse below. We also inserted highlights of the two players to get to know their achievements this year. Read ahead!
Malr1ne vs Donk: Esports Breakthrough Player of the Year award discourse
The Esports Awards concluded last night, August 24th, with many surprises and upsets. However, one specific award sparked heat between the communities of Valve's biggest titles - Dota 2 and CS2.
Malr1ne, Team Falcons' Dota 2 midlaner won the Esports Breakthrough Player of the Year award. But the comments weren't in favor of his win. A lot of people were confused as to why Team Spirit's Donk didn't receive the award after a spectacular year in CS2.
"donk has the best individual event in the history of [CS2] in [his] first year in tier 1. Him not winning this is just wild," a Twitter/X user commented on the announcement.
Some would go further as to indirectly say that Malr1ne is unknown. Many responses mentioned "who?" and a user even commented that Malr1ne has merely 2,000 followers on Twitter/X. One of the posts received attention from Dota 2 personalities who slammed the Malr1ne disrespect to the ground.
User @Poloolpp reposted the announcement and said, "Who is this lol". The International (TI) champion and Team Falcons' carry player - who is also Malr1ne's teammate - skiter, replied:
Use Google. Have some self respect instead of this clown behavior.
Dota 2 analyst and streamer, Ephey, also left a shady comment.
"I don't watch other Esports so I'm going to shit on a young Dota player who got plucked from the tier 2 scene to crush every veteran in the mid lane this season, set most of the meta for 6 months himself with his hero pool, and carried his team to multiple first place finishes"
Later, Malr1ne himself would even reply to the thread, saying "Who are you even XD"
It is unclear what the award's complete criteria are and if one's dominance overshadows the other. With tension between both communities, let's take a moment to step back and shed light on both players.
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Who is Malr1ne?
Stanislav "Malr1ne" Potorak is the current midlaner of Team Falcons' Dota 2 team. The 19-year-old started pursuing esports professionally in 2021, competing in the tier 2 scene. He had a rough start and barely surfaced in the Eastern European scene. However, 2024 saw a meteoric rise for the Russian player.
Malr1ne stepped out of Nemiga Gaming to join his former Creepwave teammate, ATF - and other veteran players and TI champions. Although this Falcons lineup is deemed a super team, Malr1ne didn't appear as a weak link during their tournaments despite being the one with the least experience. Instead, he owned almost the entirety of the laning phases and would even become the winning factor of Falcons' games.
He has a unique and aggressive playstyle in Dota 2, mostly opting for personal favorite heroes without really caring about the ongoing meta. Malr1ne has crushed veteran midlaners with ease and made bold decisions in game to single-handedly turn a game in his favor.
From the trenches of the tier 2 scene, Malr1ne flipped his career overnight. He is now playing in the best team in the world and is the favorite to win The International 2024 (TI13) this year.
Who is Donk?
Danil "Donk" Kryshkovets is a professional CS2 player who has the role of an entry fragger. The 17-year-old Russian started his esports career with the prominent Team Spirit Academy. In late 2023, he was transferred to the main squad and quickly rose to prominence.
In 2024, Donk delivered an insane run during the IEM Katowice, finishing at an average HLTV rating of 1.70. It was the same rating that star player NiKo achieved at IEM New York 2017, which was previously the highest peak performance ever in CS. This was mind-boggling considering it to be Donk's first big event.
Donk also had a consistent run throughout the year with very few underperformances. Donk achieved all of this as an entry fragger, a tough role that can greatly struggle for a great scoreboard. In 2024, he was named the HLTV MVP for 4 tournaments. Without a doubt, he is currently uncontested as the best rookie to exist in CS history.