Danil “molodoy” Golubenko has been crowned HLTV’s Rookie of the Year, beating fellow nominees Maxim “kyousuke” Lukin and Drin “makazze” Shaqiri.
molodoy didn’t play tier 1 Counter-Strike before April, when he joined FURIA, which makes it even more impressive that he got both Rookie of the Year and #6 on the HLTV Top 20.
Breakout year
molodoy’s rookie season hit the ground running the moment he entered tier one, and the results did the talking. He finished 2025 with a 1.17 Rating 3.0, won four events with FURIA, and even picked up two MVP awards along the way.
kyousuke arguably had the loudest raw numbers, posting a massive 1.25 rating across 2025, but his biggest tier-one results were near-misses, including a runner-up finish at BLAST Rivals 2025 Season 2 after moving to Falcons.
makazze put together a strong debut year of his own with a 1.13 Rating 3.0, plus silverware on the board, including a StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025 win with NAVI and multiple online titles earlier in the year with NAVI Junior.
With Rookie of the Year secured, molodoy’s rise goes from breakout story to a real warning for 2026.
