HLTV Award Show's Panel Awards nominees revealed

With HLTV's Award Show approaching fast, the panel awards narrow down to the final three nominees in each category- IGL, AWP, Opener, Closer, Anchor, Coach and Highlight of the year. Combined together with winning entries is an all-star team of 2023 filling in each role.

AWPer of the year 2023

broky
m0NESY
ZywOo

The frontrunner, ZywOo ends the year with five MVPs to his name, a Major title and an impressive 1.30 HLTV rating. Contesting for the same title, m0NESY and broky present strong competition, having put up greater AWP kills-per-round than ZywOo. SunPayus, sh1ro and device narrowly missed out on the final three.

IGL of the year 2023

apEX
karrigan
Snappi

The panel went with apEX, karrigan and snappi over cadiaN, HooXi and siuhy for the final three. apEX has had a great year with Vitality, bagging his second Major title while karrigan brought home a grand slam to FaZe at the beginning of the year. With karrigan at the helm, FaZe have made five grand finals appearances in CS2.

Snappi, with ENCE made the world's best teams sweat and secured a well earned victory at IEM Dallas 2023.

Opener of the year 2023

NiKo
rain
xertioN

Opener of the year 2022, NiKo makes it to the final three again with his rifling masterclass netting two big LAN event wins for G2 in 2023 - IEM Katowice 2023 and IEM Cologne 2023. FaZe's spearhead rain has been consistent for the team, stepping up when needed the most and giving crucial entries to convert unwinnable rounds.

xertioN, the youngest on the list has demonstrated fearless, aggressive rifling opening up rounds for MOUZ. MOUZ won ESL Pro League Season 18, with xertioN holding a HLTV rating of 1.16 across 22 maps.

Closer of the year 2023

frozen
ropz
Spinx

frozen, ropz and Spinx are pillars of consistencies, complementing and aligning with the team's needs at every step, emerging as late round stars. ropz gave FaZe a brilliant start to CS2, steamrolling other teams, winning various titles. frozen's performance with MOUZ earned him a move to FaZe.

Spinx joined Vitality in 2022 and has fit right into the puzzle, putting up significant contributions towards Vitality's title wins, including 2023's BLAST.tv Paris Major.

Anchor of the year 2023

flameZ
jks
Magisk

Joining Vitality after dupreeh's departure, flameZ quickly adapted to Vitality's playstyle, locking down sites on the CT-side. flameZ played a noticeable role in Vitality's Fall Final and World Final 2023 wins.

jks narrowly missed on the MVP medal at Katowice 2023 but has been a phenomenal anchor for G2, netting them two big event wins. Magisk makes it to the list for his performance with Vitality which gave him his fourth Major title.

Coach of the year 2023

sAw
sycrone
zonic

One of the most prolific coaches in Counter-Strike, zonic bagged his fifth Major title with Vitality among numerous other title wins. sAw's run with ENCE earned him a spot in the finals three and sycrone gets the final spot for his work with MOUZ, merging the academy team's core with the main roster.