Donk fans, feeling disappointed after the BLAST Bounty grand final, didn't have to wait long for their star's redemption.
This Esports World Cup marks donk's ninth MVP-level tournament with a rating reaching or exceeding 1.50—a dominant performance further complemented by a 1.32 KPRW and a 27.4% multi-kill rate.
Listen to what flameZ said: "Sometimes you have to respect an individual's outstanding performance, and today donk on Mirage was simply... he stole the spotlight. When a player of this caliber picks up a rifle, personally takes over the game, and makes sure he gets two or three frags every time we go somewhere, the match becomes extremely tough."
To strive for the top spot by year-end, donk needs more such events, but we've learned not to predict how far this young talent can go.
try
try's career has experienced several false dawns since he burst onto the scene with 9z. Despite a standout stint with Imperial midway, his moves to the international stage with 00NATION and Passion UA failed to yield success.
However, at Legacy, the successor of 00NATION, try has stabilized to a level where he can bring his local form to the table when competing against top-tier teams.
He put up several outstanding maps against NAVI, Falcons, and FURIA, ultimately earning a tournament rating of 1.26 and the first EVP of his career.
In fact, it was such an outstanding performance against strong opponents that he eventually became the star player in the third-place team—an Elite Vice President (EVP).
m0NESY
m0NESY only played seven maps in Paris, but he left his mark, delivering the highest overall Rating of 1.56, with no map Rating falling below 1.24.
Falcons crushed K27, Astralis, and The MongolZ, while m0NESY remained in top form throughout.
When facing stronger opponents, specifically Legacy in the quarterfinals, his team struggled, but m0NESY still stood tall, achieving a 1.35 Rating—0.51 higher than NiKo, the second-best on Falcons.
molodoy
Molodoy has been under the microscope ever since he was named Rookie of the Year, but this marks his fourth game-winning hit of 2026—a stat line that speaks volumes about how truly elite he can be when he's locked in.
This FURIA sniper concluded the EWC with a 0.82 KPR, 1.03 KPRW, and five MVP performances, propelling his team to a top-four finish.
He was particularly dominant on the deciding map, securing 25 kills against Aurora and 24 against G2, which partly explains why he finished the event with the team's highest map victory rating of 1.37.
KSCERATO
KSCERATO's peak performances aren't as frequent as molodoy's, but his consistency means there's almost no gap between them in terms of the praise deserved at this tournament.
They are FURIA's true fangs here, both playing seven outstanding maps with a KPRW over 1.00.
Excluding the lower-intensity third-place match, KSCERATO achieved a 1.26 Rating. Although FURIA lost both matches, his performance on the two overtime maps—1.53 against 9z and 1.37 against Aurora—remains commendable.
dem0n
Finally, after FUT reached the finals through a genuine team effort, let’s take a look at their top EVP.
dem0n's operational talent has long been recorded, but he is beginning to actually translate this talent into tangible influence, regardless of stage and opponent.
He performed excellently in the semi-final victory, and similarly in the finals, achieving a 1.15 rating on the seven most difficult maps the team faced throughout the tournament.Because the praise was distributed among the team—with four players having a KPRW over 0.90 and all five showcasing impressive map performances—he couldn't rank too high on the leaderboard, but dem0n was the one who fought the hardest under the spotlight, which is reflected in his ranking.
xfl0ud
If anyone in FUT could somehow snatch the MVP from donk's grasp, it would likely be xfl0ud, who leads the team with a peak performance of 0.97 KPRW and five MVP titles.
He crumbled on the last three maps of the finals, but given his overall performance prior, no one could take away his EVP.
This new signing has been an excellent spearhead for the team, injecting extra aggression into a squad that was already willing to trade gunfire and engage in direct confrontations with any opponent.
He also performed well in tense elimination matches, such as the 13-11 win against FURIA and the 16-13 victory over MOUZ. These wins helped FUT reach the final and also secured the Turkish player the first EVP of his career.
sh1ro
sh1ro had a terrible start to the tournament, posting an unusually low 0.52 Rating against JiJieHao.
But it turned out to be just an off day. The reliable sniper quickly regained his best form, delivering strong performances in every series of his tournament run.
Given donk's current peak form, it's unquestionable he's been playing a secondary role, with sh1ro's KPRW also sitting at just 0.82. However, after such a consistent series of performances, you can't deny he deserves an EVP, including a 1.73 Rating against Legacy on Ancient and 24 kills in the overtime match against FUT on Anubis.
This is his fourth EVP this year, and it couldn't have come at a better time.
latto
After latto's standout performance in Legacy's hard-fought journey to secure third place, they captured their third award of the year.
In a 32-team tournament, most teams faced a mix of strong and weak opponents, but latto had 11 maps against top-10 teams and seven against the top 5. This challenging journey contributed positively to his standing, especially given he typically operates on the edge of EVP contention.
He showed outstanding map performance in three playoff series victories: a 1.62 rating on Inferno against Natus Vincere, a 1.87 rating on Mirage against Falcons, and a 1.30 rating against Spirit.
Add to this his peak performance in the group stage and the third-place decider, and that's more than enough to secure him an EVP.
ZywOo
ZywOo was selected based on three maps with ratings over 2.00 and five MVP performances.
Two of those matches were against Lynn Vision, which somewhat diminishes the credit he can receive, but for a player who stopped in the quarterfinals and finished the event with a 1.34 Rating, it's hard to deny he deserves an EVP.
An added bonus is that one of his peak performances actually occurred during that quarterfinal—before the entire team collapsed in the decisive BO3 map against Spirit on Mirage, he secured a heroic 25 kills on Nuke.
We might tend to hold this French player to a higher standard than others and penalize him for underperforming on the deciding maps against B8 and Spirit, but if you take away the brand labels, this performance meets the criteria needed to be considered for the EVP.
tenzy
tenzy only reached the round of 16, but his performance for magic was truly remarkable, posting a kills per round won of 1.31 in the run to the elimination rounds.
He had a strong start against The MongolZ and 3DMAX, but truly exploded against 9z, securing 36 kills against the then seventh-ranked world team on the first map. He then posted an ADR of 124 on the decisive map Inferno with a 9-3 first half. In the knockout stage, he recorded 24 kills on the first map against the runner-up FUT, causing a massive shock to his opponents. Although his form dipped slightly afterward, he had already accumulated enough acclaim to secure the first EVP of his career.The best players of EWC2026, listed in order:
donk
try
m0NESY
molodoy
KSCERATO
dem0n
xfl0ud
sh1ro
latto
ZywOo
tenzy
Honorable mention
n1ssim performed as impressively as try in map victories, but struggled from the quarter-finals onward (0.87 Rating). dziugss, a fellow anchor player, faced similar challenges.
flameZ had a solid tournament, following closely behind ZywOo, but with a lower peak and slightly weaker output.
torzsi and xertioN are close to making the selection, but given that they haven't faced any top-10 teams on their path to the semifinals, they still need to prove more.
xKacpersky shone brightly despite an early exit, posting a 1.42 Rating as NiP bowed out at the bottom of the group.
All-Star Cast
magixx and donk are easy choices for the best five, but the remaining three spots require trade-offs.
In the sniper position, try outperformed m0NESY, molodoy, and sh1ro, as he led Legacy so far against such strong opponents.
KSCERATO and dem0n were neck and neck in the clutch position, but the Brazilian came out on top due to his better performance on map victories (1.33 vs. 1.18), stronger performance against top ten teams (1.27 vs. 1.11), and three more outstanding maps.
Finally, n1ssim narrowly defeated dziugss at the main defensive positions with five impressive maps (compared to the Lithuanian's three).
dem0n has joined the ranks of players with more than one EVP+ tournament performance.