HLTV Top 20 Players of 2021: electroNic #7

Denis “electroNic” Sharipov was ranked the 6th best player in 2021 by HLTV.org. The Russian joined Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy as the second Natus Vincere member to be included in the list.

Sharipov assisted NAVI in winning eight big events in 2021, including the PGL Major Stockholm 2021. Nine EVP titles, which are given to particularly important players, were presented to him for his individual level.

Why was electroNic the 7th best player of 2021?

With nine EVP awards to his record in 2021, electroNic is the first in a sequence of genuinely exceptional players that stood head and shoulders above the others owing to a huge amount of outstanding performances and the power of their peaks at the PGL Major, the BLAST Fall Final, and IEM Cologne. When examining his high ranking on the list, the Russian rifler didn’t stick out in any single area, with some of his most noticeable statistics being 80.1 ADR (#17), 0.12 opening kills per round (#17), and 53 1vsX scenarios won (#18). On average and in the late rounds of tournaments, he simply performed at a high level against some of the hardest opponents, with a 1.13 rating versus top 10 teams (#7) and a 1.13 rating in Big matchups (#8).

Also read: HLTV Top 20 Players of 2021: YEKINDAR #8

In the second half of the year, electroNic was particularly impressive in some of 2021’s most prestigious and competitive tournaments, averaging a 1.21 rating (#5) in the five ‘Elite’ events that NAVI attended, winning EVPs in four of them at IEM Cologne, PGL Major, BLAST Premier Fall Final and BLAST Premier World Final.

My goals don’t change. I want to be as useful as possible for the team, and I want my team to win every trophy there is.

Denis “electroNic” Sharipov

However, his resume was harmed by a somewhat unimpressive first half of the year. The 23-year-old didn’t have a particularly awful tournament, with his lowest rating coming at ESL Pro League Season 13, but his sluggish start hindered his consistency when contrasted to the exceedingly high end-of-year standards he set for himself, which is why he couldn’t finish higher than seventh.