HLTV Top 20 Players of 2021: b1t #9

According to HLTV.org, NAVI‘s Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy has risen to 9th place in the Top 20 Players of 2021. After his first year on the professional stage, the 19-year-old Ukrainian made it onto the ranking list.

NAVI and Vakhovskiy won 8 big events in the year, the most significant of which was the PGL Major Stockholm 2021. The youngster has claimed 6 EVP awards, which are given to extremely valuable players.

Why was b1t the 9th best player of 2021?

After putting up strong performances throughout NAVI’s tournament participation, b1t finishes ninth in his debut year, differentiating himself from other players at the year’s most competitive tournaments. He had the sixth best overall average rating of 1.21 over five Elite tournaments, earning four EVP honors and being in contention for MVP at the PGL Major, IEM Cologne, and BLAST Premier Fall Final.

Also read: HLTV Top 20 Players of 2021: Jame #10

B1t performance it’s in Big matches was a crucial factor in gaining those championships, as he put up a 1.11 rating in 60 maps (9th highest) of playoffs or tournament second halves, and he was one of just two players with a large sample size who increased their stats relative to their average. He also showed good round-to-round consistency (73.0 KAST, #8) and shown remarkable rifling talent, with the best headshot percentage (67.1%) and joint-most headshots per round (0.46), all while remaining elusive on the server, with 0.59 deaths per round (#7).

I really want to have a deep understanding of the game, I want to improve my skills, get better day by day, and of course, thereby help the team win.

Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy

While he never had a horrible performance, his first half of the year was mediocre, with generally average performances both before and after he became a starter. As a result, despite putting up fantastic stats to finish out the year, he was the lowest fragger and had the joint-lowest rating among the Top 20, preventing him from challenging for a higher rank.