As we turn the page to a new season for the HLTV Rising Stars rankings (the first rankings of the new season will be published in the coming days), let's take a look back at the standout players from this season who are about to leave the list, whether they are graduating after reaching the required number of maps played or aging out due to the age limit.
HLTV Rookie Rankings Season 2 Criteria (as of January 1, 2026):
Under 21 years old
Fewer than 50 maps are played in major tournaments.
Fewer than 50 maps played between Top 20 teams.
There are fewer than 100 maps played between Top 30 teams.
Fewer than 300 maps have been played between Top 50 teams.
Total career maps less than 1,000
Note: Qualifications will be updated after each Major.
Among these 31 graduated rookies, 12 have achieved a career-high ranking in the top 10—our most elite group—with 9 reaching the top 30 and 10 reaching the top 50.
Among these graduates who reached the top 10 in peak rankings, most (7) graduated by completing over 50 major tournament maps, 1 by completing over 100 Top 30 maps, 1 by completing over 300 Top 50 maps, and the rest (3) left due to exceeding the age limit.
At the start of the season, NiP's xKacpersky was the highest-ranked rookie on the leaderboard, holding that position until March, when dziugss took over the top spot after FUT claimed the PGL Bucharest title in April. The former top-ranked player graduated from the list after playing the required 30 maps, while dziugss left the top spot vacant after surpassing the 50-map threshold for major tournaments.
dziugss's FUT teammates left the leaderboard in the same way: dem0n peaked at rank 2, Krabeni at 6, and cmtry at 8.
PARIVISION's xieLO peaked at rank 3 at the beginning of the year, graduating through major tournament maps. His former teammate nota showed similar potential early in the season, as well as during and after their BLAST Bounty S1 title run, but later slumped along with the rest of the team and was benched in June, leaving in the same manner after reaching rank 7 in March.
Also in the group of players who have played over 50 maps at major tournaments is cobrazera, who peaked at rank 4 and has an average rank of 18. However, after being benched by The MongolZ, his future remains uncertain.
After honing his skills with 100 Thieves in the tier-2 scene, sirah ended his time on the leaderboard with 325 maps played in Top 50 matches. His teammate poiii, who joined the team with relatively little experience, remains on the list.
Finally, koala (peak #8), tenzy (peak #9), and adamb (peak #9) graduate from the list upon turning 21.
First among the mid-tier graduates is flayy, who leads this group with a peak rank of 13 and 9 appearances on the list. He left the rankings after turning 21, and others who also left due to age include Grizz (peak 20), aNdu (peak 21), Sdaim (peak 25), Alv (peak 26), jocab (peak 27), and ksloks (peak 28).
Since 2023, jackasmo has honed his skills in the tier 2 scene with Passion UA and fnatic. After accumulating 352 Top 50 maps, he leaves the ranking with 5 appearances and a peak of #17.
His compatriot s1zzi burst onto the scene this season, rising strongly alongside B8. He charted twice, peaking at 24th, and graduated from the ranking after accumulating 74 Top 20 maps since February.
All players who aged out of the bottom 20 positions on the top 50 ranking left due to exceeding the age limit, with most of them coming from Asia and the Americas.
NickyB, yAmi, and Peeping had the most leaderboard appearances among these players, each with 5, followed by guty with 4. levi and laxiee made the leaderboard three times.
blood and Machado each appeared on the chart twice, while SaVage and Djon8 each appeared once.