Shahar “flameZ” Shushan’s EVP award at ESL Pro League Season 24 was the 18th of his career. No player in HLTV’s archive has collected more of them without ever being named MVP of an event.
Vitality swept MOUZ 3-0 in the Katowice final, and as so often, the MVP went to ZywOo. It was the Frenchman’s 34th. flameZ and ropz were among the six EVPs, the awards HLTV hands out to the standout players behind the MVP.
HLTV wrote that flameZ was “the closest player to denying ZywOo the MVP”, with 2.00+ rated maps against Falcons and PARIVISION. It called the result “another second place in the MVP race”.
The record was first pointed out by NarT, and it holds up in HLTV’s own EVP and MVP lists. flameZ passes stavn, who had shared the record with him at 17.
Two other players also have 18 EVPs, but both have won MVPs.
| Player | EVPs | MVPs |
|---|---|---|
 flameZ | 18 | 0 |
 broky | 18 | 3 |
 FalleN | 18 | 4 |
 stavn | 17 | 0 |
 b1t | 16 | 1 |
Living next to ZywOo
The 23-year-old Israeli earned his first two EVPs with OG in 2021 and joined Vitality in June 2023. He has added at least three every year since: three in 2023, four in 2024, four in 2025 and five so far in 2026, his best year yet.
The missing MVP says as much about his teammate as about him. ZywOo’s 34 MVPs are the most in HLTV’s archive, and since flameZ arrived, Vitality have won two Majors, in Austin and Budapest in 2025, two ESL Grand Slams and seven titles in 2026 alone. flameZ was also seventh in HLTV’s Top 20 Players of the Year for both 2024 and 2025.
His next chance comes at PGL Masters Bucharest from 24 October, before the Singapore Major closes the year.
