donk’s career has been like a pipe dream that you catch yourself drifting into while taking a shower. A young prodigy, lethal entry rifler who burst onto the scene dropping 1.50 rating every event, head shotting every foe that stands in the way. The only thing that you would probably to it, is a Major winning moment and earning the MVP for it. donk is 2 steps away from it.
Earning his stripes
When donk first stepped into the competitive arena, working his way up from academy leagues while annihilating the competition, sceptics doubted him. They said he couldn’t replicate his dominance against Tier 2 teams—until he did. They argued he wouldn’t hold his own against Tier 1 teams—until he did. Critics then claimed LAN events would expose him and he wouldn’t be able to maintain the numbers – until he did. And when the doubters thought he’d crumble in high pressure situations in playoffs against the best players, he showed up and shut them down.
In his first big LAN tournament, IEM Katowice 2024, donk just outdid everybody. An unprecedented performance, a spectacle so chilling, it would make even the greatest of all time tremble in their boots, donk registered a 1.70 rating and bagged the youngest MVP. donk wasn’t merely in the spotlight; he was the spotlight. It was like the moment I discovered the cheats on GTA San Andreas and became the god in a world of NPCs. donk was that good.
A deeper dive into his stats shows donk’s preeminence wasn’t limited to any side. donk had a 1.77 rating in CT-side opening duels, a 1.76 on T-side openers. He had a 70% success rate in opening duels, when in the team he is responsible for taking more than 36% opening duels. donk just made the hardest role look like he was playing against silvers.
Numbers like that don’t just come off great aim, donk had both the aim and the awareness up his plays. That is what makes him so scary.
The near fairytale in Copenhagen
Next came the first CS2 Major, PGL Copenhagen 2024. It was the perfect second chapter to donk’s fairytale. A Major MVP seemed fitting for donk’s stride and Spirit reached playoffs with a clean 3-0 record with donk was warming up with a 1.38 rating against cloud9, a 2.24 against Imperial, and then a 1.26 against NAVI. An immaculate story, that made the lifting the Major trophy look preordained, but destiny had other plans.
Spirit lost to FaZe in the Quarterfinals and were eliminated. donk tried his best, posting an impressive 1.24 rating, but was let down by his teammates, with the second-highest rating on his squad languishing at 0.88. However, that is how the story often is for superstars right? They shine so bright that it sometimes ends up blinding their own team. That Bo3 surely felt like it.
Hitting a modest bottom
Even prodigies aren’t immune to setbacks. Following that heartbreak, donk experienced a rare lull. A pedestrian (by his standards) 1.02 rating at the Esports World Cup, followed by an uncharacteristic negative rating of 0.79 at IEM Cologne, reignited skepticism. Whispers of “donk is finished,” “teams have figured him out,” and “the new update nerfed his style” started to spread.
How did donk answer? By roaring back at BetBoom Dacha Belgrade Season 2, clinching the MVP with a 1.47 rating. Spirit was then kept away from trophies, as Spirit’s and donk’s kryptonite emerged in the form of G2 and NiKo. A second place finish at BLAST World Final where G2 stood as the final test was the closest Spirit got to winning another t1 trophy.
While donk has had his moments since then, they’ve fallen just shy of his stratospheric early standards. If I ruminate, it sounds absurd for me to say that for someone who boasts a 1.28 rating in the last 3 months, but that just goes on to show how high donk has set the bar. But that statline has changed in Shanghai, and donk is burning with a blue flame.
The stage is set
It seems like donk tapped back to his kaioken form and is not going to be satisfied with anything that doesn’t look like the Shanghai Major trophy. A 1.55 rating, 1.74 impact, 105.5 ADR, and a 1.03 KPR are his stats so far in this Major and they scream dominance. It is simply unreal that it keeps surging every passing Bo3.
The target in front is achievable but cannot be underestimated. With MOUZ as the first hurdle, and one of G2/FaZe as the next, the work is cut out for donk. It is a shot in the dark that donk will show up in full force in both the matchups. That is just how he is. But Counter-Strike is a team game, and no hero can carry the day alone. For donk to have the perfect rookie year, his comrades, sh1ro and zont1xx, must rise to the occasion to lend out a helping hand.
