donk Wins BLAST Open Porto MVP, Passes NiKo With 10th Big Event Medal

Danil "donk" Kryshkovets has been named the HLTV x 1xBET Most Valuable Player of BLAST Open Porto 2026 after Spirit completed their tournament run with a 3-1 victory over MOUZ in the grand final.

The 19-year-old finished the event with a 1.40 Rating 3.0 across 12 maps, adding a second consecutive MVP award after also taking the medal at Esports World Cup 2026. Porto is his 13th HLTV MVP overall and his 10th from a Big Event, moving him ahead of Nikola "NiKo" Kovač on HLTV's historical Big Event MVP list.

The award was not decided by the final alone. Dmitry "sh1ro" Sokolov actually finished ahead of donk statistically in the title series, but donk had built a substantial advantage earlier in the event and then produced the most explosive map of the final when Spirit needed to regain control.

Quick Summary

Detail	Information
Player	Danil "donk" Kryshkovets
Team	Spirit
Tournament	BLAST Open Porto 2026
Organizer	BLAST
Team placement	1st
Tournament rating	1.40 Rating 3.0
Group-stage rating	1.62 Rating 3.0
Grand final rating	1.28 Rating 3.0
MVP type	HLTV x 1xBET MVP
Career HLTV MVPs	13
Big Event MVPs	10
Main storyline	A huge group stage gave donk the lead before his 2.32-rated Ancient helped settle a late challenge from sh1ro

BLAST Open Porto ran from August 26 to September 6, with a 16-team field and a combined $1.1 million prize pool. The group stage was played in Copenhagen before the six remaining teams moved to the Super Bock Arena in Porto for the playoffs.

Why donk Won the MVP

donk's case was built primarily before Spirit ever arrived in the arena.

Spirit went through Group A without losing a map, beating DENDELE, G2, and FURIA 2-0. donk ended those six maps at a 1.62 Rating 3.0, including a 1.86 T-side rating, giving him a statistical cushion that became crucial once his individual output dipped in the semifinal.

His tournament was also more than one exceptional opening match. He posted strong numbers against G2, led Spirit through important stretches of the FURIA series, and entered the playoffs as the event's standout performer.

The semifinal against Falcons was different. donk finished the 2-0 victory with a comparatively modest 1.09 rating, while sh1ro was Spirit's highest-rated player at 1.21. That continued in the early stages of the grand final and turned what had looked like a comfortable MVP race into a genuine contest between Spirit's two stars.

Then came Ancient.

With the grand final tied 1-1 after Spirit allowed an 11-4 Mirage lead to disappear, donk produced 23 kills, 121.5 ADR, five opening kills, and a 2.32 rating in a 13-3 win. Spirit followed it with a 13-6 victory on Nuke to close the series and tournament.

That late acceleration, combined with the advantage he had established during the group stage, was enough for donk to stay ahead of sh1ro in the full-event MVP race.

Tournament Performance

A Near-Flawless Group Stage

Spirit's Porto run began against DENDELE, and donk immediately produced his highest-rated series of the tournament.

He finished the 2-0 victory with 48 kills to 26 deaths, 129.4 ADR, and a 2.14 Rating 3.0. His Cache performance was even more extreme: 24-10 with a 2.34 rating as Spirit won the map 13-7.

The map also featured two ace rounds from donk. HLTV noted that the second took his total to 20 five-kill rounds at MVP-caliber CS2 events, making him the first player to reach that mark in CS2 under the site's tracking criteria.

G2 offered more resistance, particularly on Cache, but Spirit still won 13-6 on Dust2 and 13-9 on Cache. donk finished the series with a 1.45 rating and produced a 1.69-rated performance on the second map.

Spirit then completed their 6-0 map run by beating FURIA 13-10 on Ancient and 13-5 on Cache. donk registered a 1.31 series rating, including 25 kills and a 1.50 rating on Ancient. By the end of the group stage, his six-map Rating 3.0 stood at 1.62.

That unbeaten run sent Spirit directly to the semifinals.

A Quieter Semifinal

Falcons were the first team to significantly reduce donk's output.

Spirit still advanced 2-0, winning Nuke 13-8 and Ancient 13-11, but donk ended the series at 34-30 with a 1.09 rating. His 1.27 on Nuke was followed by a 0.96 on Ancient. sh1ro was Spirit's statistical leader across the series at 1.21.

For the MVP race, that mattered. sh1ro's strong semifinal narrowed the gap and put additional weight on the grand final.

Match-by-Match Highlights

vs DENDELE — 2-0

Ancient: 13-8 | Cache: 13-7

donk opened the event with a 2.14 series rating, 48 kills, and 129.4 ADR. His 2.34-rated Cache, featuring two aces, established the statistical ceiling for his Porto run.

vs G2 — 2-0

Dust2: 13-6 | Cache: 13-9

His numbers dropped from the DENDELE series but remained comfortably above average. donk finished at 1.45 overall and went 21-12 with a 1.69 rating on Cache.

vs FURIA — 2-0

Ancient: 13-10 | Cache: 13-5

FURIA limited donk more effectively on Cache, but he had already helped swing the series with 25 kills and a 1.50 rating on Ancient. Spirit finished the group stage without dropping a map.

vs Falcons — 2-0

Nuke: 13-8 | Ancient: 13-11

This was donk's weakest series statistically at the event. His 1.09 rating was enough within a more balanced Spirit performance, with sh1ro posting the team's best rating.

vs MOUZ — 3-1

Dust2: 13-8 | Mirage: 11-13 | Ancient: 13-3 | Nuke: 13-6

donk began the final with 0.99 and 0.97 ratings on the first two maps before changing the series on Ancient. His 2.32 rating there was followed by a 1.35 on Nuke, bringing his final series rating to 1.28.

Grand Final: sh1ro Led the Series, donk Produced the Turning Point

The final is also why donk's MVP requires more context than simply identifying Spirit's best player in the championship match.

sh1ro was statistically better across the four maps. He finished 70-42 with an 80.9 ADR, 78.8% KAST, and a 1.36 rating. donk went 73-52 with 95.0 ADR and a 1.28 rating, while tN1R and zont1x were also highly productive at 1.27 and 1.24 respectively.

donk was below a 1.00 rating on both Dust2 and Mirage. Spirit won the opener 13-8 before throwing away an 11-4 advantage on Mirage and losing 11-13, bringing MOUZ level in the series.

Ancient was the response.

Spirit won 11 of the first 12 rounds and closed the map 13-3. donk accounted for 23 kills against nine deaths, 121.5 ADR, and five opening kills, ending on a 2.32 rating. No player on either team came close to his output on the map.

He remained effective on Nuke with a 1.35 rating as Spirit completed the 3-1 victory.

The distinction is important: sh1ro had the better grand final as a whole. donk had the better tournament, and his best map of the final arrived exactly when his MVP advantage was under the most pressure.

The Numbers Behind the MVP

Statistic	Result
Tournament Rating 3.0	1.40
Maps played	12
Group-stage Rating 3.0	1.62
Group-stage T-side rating	1.86
Semifinal rating vs Falcons	1.09
Grand final rating vs MOUZ	1.28
Grand final Ancient rating	2.32

The most revealing number is not the 1.28 from the final. It is the gap donk created before the playoffs.

A 1.62 rating across Spirit's six group-stage maps gave him room for a quieter semifinal without surrendering the lead in the overall tournament race. The 2.32 Ancient in the final then prevented that late drop in form from becoming the defining part of his event.

donk vs sh1ro: How Close Was the MVP Race?

sh1ro was the only player explicitly identified by HLTV as making a serious late push for the medal.

The AWPer finished BLAST Open Porto with a 1.26 Rating 3.0 across 12 maps, below donk's 1.40 overall mark, but the difference narrowed substantially during the playoffs. sh1ro led Spirit statistically in the semifinal and then topped the grand final at 1.36.

That created an unusual final dynamic. donk did not need to outscore sh1ro across all four maps; he needed to protect the advantage he had accumulated earlier.

Ancient did exactly that.

This was therefore not an MVP decided solely by trophy ownership or by the best stat line in the final. It reflected the complete 12-map sample: donk's exceptional group stage, his weaker semifinal, and the decisive rebound over the last two maps against MOUZ.

Role and Tactical Impact

donk remains the high-volume aggressive rifle presence at the center of Spirit's firepower, and Porto again showed how much damage he can generate without relying on the AWP.

His group-stage T-side rating of 1.86 is particularly relevant. Aggressive riflers are exposed to more early-round risk than passive late-round players, so sustaining that level of production across six maps says more about his impact than raw kill totals alone.

Ancient in the final provided the clearest example. donk did not merely accumulate exit kills in a one-sided scoreline: he recorded five opening kills while Spirit took control of the map from the start.

Spirit also did not require him to lead every series. sh1ro carried a larger statistical load in the semifinal and final overall, while tN1R and zont1x both finished above 1.20 in the championship match. That balance allowed Spirit to survive the parts of the playoffs where donk was less productive.

Key Maps

Cache vs DENDELE

24-10, 2.34 rating

This was donk at his most statistically extreme in Porto. Two ace rounds and 24 kills in a 13-7 win immediately gave him a large lead in the individual standings.

Cache vs G2

21-12, 1.69 rating

The G2 match provided better evidence that his opening performance was sustainable against stronger opposition. Spirit completed the 2-0 and moved one series away from a direct semifinal berth.

Ancient vs MOUZ

23-9, 121.5 ADR, 2.32 rating

This was the defining playoff map of his MVP run. Spirit had just lost Mirage after leading 11-4, the final was tied, and sh1ro had been closing the individual gap. donk's Ancient shifted both the series and the MVP conversation.

Another MVP in an Already Unusual Career

Porto is donk's 13th HLTV MVP award and third of 2026, following PGL Astana and Esports World Cup. His EWC medal had come just two weeks earlier after another Spirit championship run.

His award history is already built around some of Counter-Strike's largest events.

At IEM Katowice 2024, donk earned his first Big Event MVP during his debut at that level. Later that year, he won the Perfect World Shanghai Major and its MVP award at 17, becoming the youngest Major champion and Major MVP in Counter-Strike history. He added IEM Cologne to the list in 2025.

Porto now takes him to 10 Big Event MVPs. On HLTV's historical list, that puts him fourth, behind Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut with 25, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev with 14, and Nicolai "device" Reedtz with 11. NiKo is fifth with nine.

donk's 13 HLTV MVP Awards

Year	Event	Team
2026	BLAST Open Porto	Team Spirit
2026	Esports World Cup	Team Spirit
2026	PGL Astana	Team Spirit
2025	BLAST Bounty Season 2 Finals	Team Spirit
2025	IEM Cologne	Team Spirit
2025	PGL Astana	Team Spirit
2025	BLAST Bounty Season 1 Finals	Team Spirit
2024	Perfect World Shanghai Major	Team Spirit
2024	BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2	Team Spirit
2024	BLAST Premier Spring Final	Team Spirit
2024	BetBoom Dacha Belgrade	Team Spirit
2024	IEM Katowice	Team Spirit
2023	BetBoom Dacha	Team Spirit

HLTV's MVP archive lists all 13 awards under Spirit.

Spirit's Title Was Not a One-Man Run

donk's MVP should not obscure how much Spirit received from the rest of the roster once the tournament reached its decisive stages.

sh1ro was the team's highest-rated player in both the Falcons semifinal and MOUZ final. Against MOUZ, tN1R added a 1.27 rating and zont1x a 1.24, giving Spirit four players above 1.20 in the title series.

That support was especially important because donk was not operating at his group-stage level throughout the playoffs.

Spirit's current five of donk, sh1ro, Boris "magixx" Vorobiev, Andrey "tN1R" Tatarinovich, and Myroslav "zont1x" Plakhotia have now won consecutive events at Esports World Cup and BLAST Open Porto, with Sergey "hally" Shavaev continuing as coach. HLTV currently lists Spirit at No. 1 in its world ranking.

MOUZ Rivalry Flips Again

The Porto final also reversed one of Spirit's most recent defeats.

Only a little over a month earlier, MOUZ had beaten Spirit 3-1 in the BLAST Bounty Season 2 Finals grand final. Spirit won Ancient in that series but lost Dust2, Mirage, and Nuke. donk finished that earlier final with a 1.07 rating, while MOUZ controlled the series behind a much stronger collective performance.

In Porto, the series score was exactly reversed.

Spirit again faced MOUZ across Dust2, Mirage, Ancient, and Nuke, but this time won three of the four maps. Ancient was once more donk's best answer to the matchup, only now it became the map that put Spirit within one victory of the trophy.

Interesting Facts

• Porto is donk's 13th HLTV MVP and 10th Big Event MVP, taking him past NiKo's nine Big Event medals.
• It is his third MVP of 2026, after PGL Astana and Esports World Cup.
• donk and Spirit have now won back-to-back tournaments, with Esports World Cup preceding BLAST Open Porto.
• His two aces against DENDELE took him to 20 five-kill rounds at MVP-caliber CS2 events under HLTV's tracking.
• Spirit's 3-1 final win reversed the 3-1 defeat to MOUZ in the BLAST Bounty Season 2 Finals roughly a month earlier.

What the MVP Means Going Forward

The most significant part of the Porto medal is not simply the career total.

donk has now won consecutive MVPs while Spirit have won consecutive tournaments. That changes the immediate context around the team: Porto was not an isolated peak following the Esports World Cup title, and Spirit leave the summer stretch with both their star rifler and the wider lineup producing championship-level results.

For donk individually, the Big Event count is increasingly notable. At 10, he is one behind device and four behind s1mple on HLTV's historical list, although ZywOo remains far ahead at 25.

There is little value in projecting where those totals will eventually finish. What Porto establishes is simpler: donk's 2026 now contains three MVP awards, including two in consecutive championship runs.

What Comes Next?

Spirit's next confirmed tournament on HLTV's schedule is ESL Pro League Season 24, running from October 3-11. PGL Masters Bucharest 2026 is then listed for October 24-31.

That gives Spirit a break after Porto before their next scheduled top-level appearance — and gives the rest of the field time to find an answer to a team that has now converted two consecutive events into trophies.

FAQ

Who won the MVP at BLAST Open Porto 2026?

donk won the HLTV x 1xBET MVP award after Spirit claimed the tournament title.

What was donk's rating at BLAST Open Porto 2026?

He finished the tournament with a 1.40 Rating 3.0 across 12 maps.

Did Spirit win BLAST Open Porto 2026?

Yes. Spirit defeated MOUZ 3-1 in the grand final, winning Dust2, Ancient, and Nuke.

What was donk's rating in the grand final?

donk finished the MOUZ series with a 1.28 Rating 3.0. sh1ro led Spirit in the final with a 1.36 rating.

How many MVP awards does donk have?

HLTV's archive lists 13 career MVP awards, including 10 at Big Events.

Who was donk's closest MVP rival in Porto?

sh1ro made the strongest late challenge. He led Spirit statistically in the semifinal and grand final, but donk retained the stronger tournament-wide rating at 1.40.