Several contestants were nominated for their performance in Barcelona.
ZywOo secured four MVP awards in the first half of the year, but due to Vitality's declining form, he had to wait for a fifth. However, at StarSeries, he decided to wait no longer, carrying his team to victory with a 1.50 Rating and a 1.24 KPRW.
With an overall round win rate swing value of +6.13%, when the Grand Final began and ZywOo charged out from Cache mid with an AK-47, the MVP competition had already become a foregone conclusion. ZywOo, usually reserved about personal accolades, admitted that breaking this drought brought him relief: "I wanted to secure at least one MVP in the latter half of the season," he told HLTV after the match, "just to boost my confidence and to win a trophy. So I think it would come along with that. Now that I've gotten this MVP, it feels great."
Brazilian player KSCERATO
Due to molodoy's eye issues, KSCERATO had to carry a greater burden, and he delivered by maintaining a rating above 1.20 across four consecutive tournaments. His performance at StarSeries was even stronger, with a tournament rating of 1.26 and an ADR of 89.9. This allowed him to secure the highest EVP position despite FURIA not reaching the finals. He stood out on seven maps—just two fewer than ZywOo—including key victories against MOUZ and MIBR. KSCERATO was also the only player capable of competing against top-tier teams, posting a 1.23 rating against TOP 10 squads, while the next highest among his teammates was only 0.97.
Finnish contestant Jimpphat
We said there was no MVP race, but if there had been, Jimpphat could have challenged ZywOo for the medal. A poor final prevented that, but before then he was excellent, posting a 1.41 rating on the winners' bracket path and being named the best player of the map three times. Knocking out Vitality in the winners' final might not have been elimination, but it showcased the immense potential still present in the Finn. After a few years in the wilderness, this was his first EVP since IEM Rio at the end of 2024, and ash delivered on his promise to make him a star anchor once more.
Estonian player ropz
ropz was undoubtedly the second figure in Barcelona, but he still contributed significant value with a 0.98 KPRW, a 1.28 Rating in the win graph, and Vitality's 1.24 Rating across six maps on the final day of the finals.
Aside from the lackluster performance in the winners' final against Aurora, this looked more like the ropz from the first season rather than the player who had averaged a 1.06 rating since July. That Sunday, he delivered an outstanding performance on Cache against FURIA, posting a 113 ADR in the first half and setting the tone for Vitality's dominant display that day—a reminder of their form in the first half of the year. It’s easy to focus on ZywOo’s heroic showing, but ropz’s resurgence could be equally crucial in the lead-up to the Major.
The best players of StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026, in the following order:
France's ZywOo, Brazil's KSCERATO, Finland's Jimpphat, Estonia's ropz
Honorable Mention
flameZ has been as impressive as ropz over the past two series but didn't receive as much credit for victories before the final day, leading to his omission. Wicadia made a late push for EVP with a 1.17 Rating in the playoffs and the team-high 1.15 Rating in the grand final. However, he wasn't crucial in helping Aurora reach the final, posting only a 1.05 Rating on the map wins.
Both insani and tomaszin came close to earning nominations with their outstanding group stage performances but failed to cross the threshold due to mediocre showings against FURIA—the only TOP 10 team MIBR faced. w0nderful gave his all in the elimination match against MOUZ but couldn't prevent Navi from exiting in the group stage once again. mo0N also stood out in magic's defeated match.
All-star lineup
Unlike usual, we only had two players from the champion team selected, with apEX joining MVP ZywOo. KSCERATO beat ropz for the closer position, while Jimpphat was the easy choice for the other anchor. The opener position was a tougher call between flameZ and insani, but insani outperformed him on KPRW (1.16 vs. 0.84) and was more crucial to the team's success.