DLTV Best Player Awards Of 2023, Position 2: Third Place
Though some may disagree, we have placed the BetBoom Team's Mid Laner, gpk, in third place.
We won't deny that the BetBoom Team has had a lackluster 2023 season, but the "poor" performance does not apply to gpk. The 22-year-old is known to be one of the world's most mechanically skilled Mid players, but he was still able to show noticeable improvements throughout last year.
No matter how good or bad the team's map turned out, gpk always played some high-quality Dota and is often the factor that helps the BetBoom Team pull off wins in rough games.
Together with his team, gpk achieved the following results in 2023:
- 12th place at DreamLeague S19
- 14th place at Berlin Major 2023
- 2nd place at DreamLeague S20
- 6th place at Riyadh Masters 2023
- 3rd place at DreamLeague S21
- 5th place at The International 12
- 4th place at ESL One Kuala Lumpur 2023
One of the most impressive things about the Russian player's gameplay is his laning prowess. He is often out-CSing the enemy Mid Laner and coming out of the laning phase unscathed in unfavorable matchups. Stats don't lie; check out his stats last season compared to other Mid Laners:
- Top 3 KDA: 6.36 (Among all roles and players)
- Top 10 Average Kills Per Map: 7.30
- Top 2 (Least) Average Deaths Per Game: 2.96
- Top 5 Kill Participation: 71.45%
- Top 4 Average Damage Per Game: 27,836
If you're trying to learn how to play Mid, you can watch gpk's replays of his three most-played heroes:
- Storm Spirit (48 Maps, 73%)
- Ember Spirit (20 Maps, 55% Win Rate)
- Tiny (18 Maps, 61% Win Rate)
Though gpk showed consistency throughout almost all tournaments in 2023, his best performance can be found in DreamLeague Season 20, where the BetBoom Team placed second. Gpk was one of the best players in several main statistic indicators, only behind Topson, Abed, and Nightfall.
If gpk's Dota career declines, which is extremely unlikely, he can always move to Counter-Strike. He has reached Level 10 on FACEIT, which is the highest rank and qualifies you as a semi-pro.