HLTV Talent of the Year 2025 — Community Voting, Nominees 

HLTV has launched Community Voting for the Talent of the Year 2025 award, inviting Counter-Strike fans worldwide to pick the broadcast personality they felt left the biggest mark on the 2025 season. Voting runs in two rounds, with the winner announced live at the HLTV Awards 2025 in Belgrade, Serbia. 

What the Award Means

Talent of the Year celebrates the most influential and visible casters, hosts, desk analysts, and broadcast personalities across the CS2 competitive calendar. Fans have sole control of the vote this year, making it one of the most engaging community awards on HLTV. 

2025 Talent of the Year Nominees

Full Nominee List

Freya “Freya” Spiers — Desk host & tournament interviewer

Harry “JustHarry” Russell — Caster/commentator

Hugo “Hugo” Byron — Caster/commentator

Jacob “Pimp” Winneche — Analyst/commentator

Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill — Caster/commentator 

Alex “Machine” Richardson — Caster/commentator 

James “BanKs” Banks — Host/interviewer 

Janko “YNk” Paunović — Analyst

Mohan “launders” Govindasamy — Caster/commentator

Conner “Scrawny” Girvan — Caster/commentator

Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg — Analyst

Tres “stunna” Saranthus — Host/deskside talent

These nominees reflect the most present voices on the global broadcast desks across S-tier events, including Majors, ESL Pro Tour stops, BLAST tournaments, and other premier CS2 competitions. 

Voting Format & Timeline

HLTV organizes the community vote in two rounds:

Round 1: Dec 16, 21:00 CET – Dec 23, 23:59 CET
→ Vote cuts the field to the top 3 finalists. 

Round 2: Dec 24, 12:00 CET – Dec 31, 23:59 CET
→ Community selects the Talent of the Year 2025. 

Winner Revealed: Jan 10, 2026 at the HLTV Awards in Belgrade, Serbia. 

Only HLTV accounts registered before December 9, 2025 are eligible to vote. 

Community Context & Past Winners

The Talent category is one of several community-decided trophies. Fans also vote on Event of the Year, Streamer of the Year, Creator of the Year, and Skin of the Year. 

Last year’s Talent of the Year was won by BanKs, who led the community vote after hosting and participating in over 20 events across formats. 

Additional Background

These nominees aren’t just faces on a broadcast — many of them have been central voices at StarLadder Budapest Major, IEM Katowice 2025, and BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025, with consistent involvement across the biggest stages of the CS2 year.