As we turn the page to a new season of HLTV Prospects, the first ranking of which will be published in the coming days, we look back at the players who stood out and are leaving the ranking this season, be it by graduating due to the number of maps played or by aging out.
HLTV Prospects Season 2 criteria, as of January 1, 2026:
Under 21 years of age
Fewer than 50 maps at Big Events
Fewer than 50 maps in a top 20 team vs a top 20 team
Fewer than 100 maps in a top 30 team vs a top 30 team
Fewer than 300 maps in a top 50 team vs a top 50 team
Fewer than 1000 career maps
Note: Eligibility is updated after each Major
Of the 31 graduating prospects, 12 peaked inside the top 10 — our most elite group — nine of them inside the top 30, and ten among the top 50.
Of the graduates who peaked inside the top 10, the majority (7) graduated by playing more than 50 Big Event maps, one by playing over 100 Top 30 maps, one by playing over 300 Top 50 maps, and the rest (3) aged out.
The season started with Ninjas in Pyjamas's Kacper "xKacpersky" Gabara as the highest prospect on the list, a spot he held through March before Džiugas "dziugss" Steponavičius took over in April after FUT took the PGL Bucharest trophy. The former top player graduated through Top 30 maps played, while dziugss leaves the top spot open after clearing the 50 Big Event map threshold.
dziugss's FUT teammates leave the ranking in the same way; Dmytro "dem0n" Myroshnychenko having peaked at #2, Aulon "Krabeni" Fazlija at #6, and Nikita "cmtry" Samolotov at #8.
PARIVISION's Vladislav "xiELO" Lysov, who peaked at #3 at the beginning of the year, graduated on Big Event maps. His former teammate Emil "nota" Moskvitin, who also showed promise early on in the season during and after the BLAST Bounty Season 1 victory, but deflated with the rest of his team before getting benched in June, leaves the same way after reaching #7 in March.
Also in the group of players who played over 50 maps at Big Events is Anarbileg "cobrazera" Uuganbayar, who peaked at #4 and had an average rank of #18, although his future is currently in the balance after getting benched in The MongolZ.
William "sirah" Kjærsgaard's tier-two grind with 100 Thieves ends his time in the ranking with 325 maps in Top 50 matches. His teammate Alex "poiii" Nyholm Sundgren, who came into the team with less previous experience, remains.
Finally, João "koala" Pfeffer (#8 peak), Nikita "tenzy" Kochenyuk (#9 peak), and Adam "adamb" Ångström (#9 peak) graduate the list having turned 21 years of age.
The mid-range graduates start with Alan "flayy" Krupa, whose #13 peak and 9 appearances on the ranking lead the way. He leaves the list after turning 21, as do Adam "Grizz" Golden, who peaked at #20, Andreas "aNdu" Maasing, (#21 peak), Daniil "Sdaim" Tupov (#25 peak), Vladislav "Alv" Vorokhobov (#26 peak), Jacob "jocab" Nerheden (#27 peak) and Italo "ksloks" Meinberg (#28 peak).
Nikita "jackasmo" Skyba, who has been grinding in tier-two since 2023 with Passion UA and fnatic, leaves the list with five appearances and a #17 peak after amassing 352 Top 50 maps to his name.
His countryman Danylo "s1zzi" Vinnyk came out of nowhere this season to break out with B8. He made the list twice, with a personal best ranking of #24, and graduates from the list having put 74 Top 20 maps to his name since February.
Players who are graduating from the bottom 20 positions in the top 50 are all aging out, and the majority are from Asia and America.
Nicky "NickyB" Bruhn, Yalalt "yAmi" Oyunbileg, and Jaxon "Peeping" Cornwell leave with the most appearances of the bunch, with five each, followed by Lautaro "guty" Gomez with four. Guilherme "levi" Gustavo and Maks "laxiee" Andryei made it to the ranking three times.
Ozzy "blood" Rose and Henrique "Machado" Amaral had two appearances each, while James "SaVage" Savage made the list once, as did Evgeny "Djon8" Mudrenov.
Read more about some of the graduating prospects:
- dziugss
- dem0n
- Krabeni
- xKacpersky
- koala
- cobrazera
Džiugas 'dziugss' Steponavičius
Daniil 'Sdaim' Tupov
Vladislav 'xiELO' Lysov
Kacper 'xKacpersky' Gabara
B8
Danylo 's1zzi' Vinnyk
Alexey 'alex666' Yarmoshchuk
Andrii 'npl' Kukharskyi
Artem 'kensizor' Kapran
Dmytro 'esenthial' Tsvir
Ivan 'maddened' Iordanidi
Passion UA
Tiaan 'T.c' Coertzen
Adam 'adamb' Ångström
Yalalt 'yAmi' Oyunbileg
100 Thieves
William 'sirah' Kjærsgaard
Nicolai 'device' Reedtz
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard
Jack 'Gizmy' von Spreckelsen
Alex 'poiii' Nyholm Sundgren
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander
Emil 'nota' Moskvitin
PARIVISION
Evgenii 'FL1T' Lebedev
Dzhami 'Jame' Ali
Vladislav 'xiELO' Lysov
Ivan 'zweih' Gogin
Vyacheslav 'slaxejezzz' Vinokurov
Dastan 'dastan' Akbayev
Nikita 'cmtry' Samolotov
Danylo 's1zzi' Vinnyk
Alan 'flayy' Krupa
James 'SaVage' Savage
Vladislav 'Alv' Vorokhobov
Henrique 'Machado' Amaral
fnatic
Nikita 'jackasmo' Skyba
Rodion 'fEAR' Smyk
Dmytro 'jambo' Semera
Artem 'cairne' Mushynskyi
Volodymyr 'mazay' Iorhachov
Miks 'Independent' Siliņš
Maks 'laxiee' Andryei
Guilherme 'levi' Gustavo
Alex 'poiii' Nyholm Sundgren
FUT
Džiugas 'dziugss' Steponavičius
Yasin 'xfl0ud' Koç
Dmytro 'dem0n' Myroshnychenko
Aulon 'Krabeni' Fazlija
Nikita 'cmtry' Samolotov
András 'coolio' Fercsák
Italo 'ksloks' Meinberg
Jacob 'jocab' Nerheden
William 'sirah' Kjærsgaard
Nicky 'NickyB' Bruhn
Dmytro 'dem0n' Myroshnychenko
Anarbileg 'cobrazera' Uuganbayar
Evgeny 'Djon8' Mudrenov
Lautaro 'guty' Gomez
Nikita 'tenzy' Kochenyuk
João 'koala' Pfeffer
Ninjas in Pyjamas
Marco 'Snappi' Pfeiffer
Martin 'stavn' Lund
Rasmus 'sjuush' Beck
Roman 'n0te' Hamze
Kacper 'xKacpersky' Gabara
Richard 'Xizt' Landström
Adam 'Grizz' Golden
The MongolZ
Garidmagnai 'bLitz' Byambasuren
Sodbayar 'Techno' Munkhbold
Usukhbayar '910' Banzragch
Zolbayar 'tikuak' Chimedtseren
Dugarsuren 'DarkMeister' Ireedui
Erdenedalai 'maaRaa' Bayanbat
Nikita 'jackasmo' Skyba
Jaxon 'Peeping' Cornwell
Aulon 'Krabeni' Fazlija
Ozzy 'blood' Rose
Andreas 'aNdu' Maasing