iM overtakes Ropz, EliGE; announced as #16 in HLTV's Top 20

HLTV continues to unveil their Top 20 players list for 2024 as we head closer to the HLTV Awards, set to take place in Belgrade, Serbia on 11th January 2025. The latest induction features iM at #16, a rising star out of Romania who stole the spotlight at the Paris Major last year after which he was brought into the new-look NAVI lineup without s1mple.

Like many, iM's Counter-Strike journey began with popular zombie mods in Counter-Strike 1.6 and he took a keen interest in CSGO upon it's release in 2013. iM grinded his way through matchmaking, FACEIT and eventually made waves in local leaderboards. He was picked up by Nexus, a top Romanian team in 2018. He later found a new home with GamerLegion in 2021.

After a couple of failures at RMR qualifiers for the PGL Antwerp Major in 2022, GamerLegion cleared their fourth attempt and made it to the European RMR where the team crashed out of Major contention after disappointing losses against fnatic, FORZE and Dignitas. Fast-forward a year and we're at the Major where iM's Counter-Strike career would go to the next level.

Starting 0-2 in the Challengers Stage, GamerLegion reverse-swept their way into the Legends Stage where they breezed through with a 3-1 record and in no time were up against Vitality in the grand-final after taking down Monte and FaZe. GamerLegion's fairytale run at the Paris Major came to an end in the grand-final but iM was one of the most talked about prospects in GamerLegion. His "new-generation" aim and fearless Counter-Strike caught the eyes of many.

Among these many interested parties was NAVI, who picked him up for their new-look roster without s1mple in the new iteration of the game. iM took a while to get adjusted and fit into his role in the new NAVI lineup but slowly found his footing towards the latter half of 2024 and is yet to replicate his Paris Major performance.

I learned a lot in a short period of time with Justik and Aleksi. It was a tough time because you have to adapt to a new system, a new meta because in GamerLegion we had a totally different vision. We weren't tier-one and tier-one thinks differently. It was a huge difference to step up from tier two, playing out of anti-strat all the time.
iM on his beginnings with NAVI

After a particularly weak first half of the year, iM bounced back and broke into the Top 20. iM has been awarded two EVP accolades this year at ESL Pro League Season 20 and IEM Cologne 2024 alongside one HLTV MVP honors at IEM Rio 2024.

After an abysmal run at IEM Katowice 2024, NAVI showed up big time at the PGL Copenhagen 2024 Major, Counter-Strike 2's first ever Major. NAVI scraped through to the playoffs with a 3-2 record in the Elimination Stage and went berserk in the playoffs taking down the likes of Eternal Fire, G2 and FaZe as iM followed up his second place finish at the Paris Major with a Major champion title at the PGL Copenhagen 2024 Major.

iM also lifted the Esports World Cup, ESL Pro League Season 20 and IEM Rio 2024 titles with NAVI this year. His highest rated game (at big events) in 2024 came against Ninjas in Pyjamas at the ESL Pro League Season 20 where he went 23-11 at an ADR of 127, holding a HLTV rating of 2.01. ESL Pro League Season 20 was one of iM's highest rated events in 2024 (1.22).

iM held a HLTV rating of 1.09 across the year with an impact rating of 1.14 and an ADR of 79.3. He was also among the top 15 performers at big events and LANs with ratings of 1.07 and 1.06 respectively. After a considerably weaker showing at the PGL Copenhagen 2024 Major, iM's number only kept going up towards the end of year until it dipped out against the recently concluded Shanghai Major.

With iM announced at #16, the HLTV Top 20 Players of the Year 2024 currently reads as follows:

1. • T.B.A

2. • T.B.A

3. • T.B.A

4. • T.B.A

5. • T.B.A

6. • T.B.A

7. • T.B.A

8. • T.B.A

9. • T.B.A

10. • T.B.A

11. • T.B.A

12. • T.B.A

13. • T.B.A

14. • T.B.A

15. • T.B.A

16. • iM

17. • Jimpphat

18. • Ropz

19. • EliGE

20. • torzsi