CS2 Hall of Fame: ten names on the 2026 ballot

HLTV has published the list of ten players nominated for the Counter-Strike Hall of Fame's Class of 2026, mixing newcomers with names who have appeared on previous ballots.

Four of the ten will be voted in this year, following on from two earlier intakes HLTV has already confirmed. The 2024 group brought in Tommy "Potti" Ingemarsson, Emil "HeatoN" Christensen, Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg and Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund, while the 2025 group added Yegor "markeloff" Markelov, Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer and Raphael "cogu" Camargo.

The 2026 class will be inducted at the HLTV Awards in Belgrade, Serbia, on 9 January 2027.

Among the ten nominees is NEO, on the ballot for the first time following the repeal of the so-called 'NEO rule'. HLTV describes him as widely regarded as the best, or among the best, players of the pre-CS:GO era. He was voted Player of the Decade for the 2000s by HLTV users, was the first Pole on HLTV's Top 20 Players of the Year list, and won WCG three times, ESWC twice and the IEM World Championship twice before going on to become a two-time MVP and Major champion in CS:GO, amassing 11 notable trophies as a player and four more as a coach.

Also nominated is Rambo, described by HLTV as one of the most respected North American players of Counter-Strike's early years for his LAN consistency. Playing for the X3 and Team 3D rosters, he claimed a pair of CPL championships alongside two World Cyber Games gold medals before moving into coaching with MVP, compLexity and Cloud9.

Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen features on the ballot for the second year running, having made it in his first eligible year after retirement. HLTV credits him with 32 notable event victories including five Majors, status as the only player to have attended all 19 CS:GO Majors, and seven appearances on the Top 20 Players of the Year list during Astralis' 2017-2019 dynasty.

elemeNt is nominated as the first player in Counter-Strike's history to have a club pay to release him from his contract, having won top-tier championships with multiple teams including NoA, described as the first international roster in the game two decades before FaZe popularised the concept.

A player known as Solo is credited by HLTV with helping put South Korean Counter-Strike on the map in 2005 by guiding project_kr to second place at WEG Season 3, before his WeMade FOX side won WEM in 2010.

SpawN, who played alongside HeatoN and Potti on the dominant early-2000s Ninjas in Pyjamas and SK rosters, is nominated for what HLTV calls his mechanical gifts and his broader impact on the Counter-Strike zeitgeist of the era.

XeqtR, also a former teammate of HeatoN and Potti, is nominated as one of the best in-game leaders of the early era, with HLTV crediting him with laying the tactical blueprint that underpins modern team-based Counter-Strike.

fRoD is nominated as the player who took over from Kyle "Ksharp" Miller as North America's leading AWPer, with HLTV pointing to his performance in Complexity's ESWC 2005 win and a sustained run at the top of the game even after a spell in the CGS.

kennyS rounds out the ballot, nominated for a reflex-driven, aggressive AWPing style that HLTV says contributed to Valve's decision to nerf the sniper rifle. His career also includes ten individual MVP honours, plus five finishes on the Top 20 Players of the Year list.

The Hall of Fame Committee deciding the Class of 2026 includes Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, Stephanie "missharvey" Harvey, Jason "moses" O'Toole and Tommy "Potti" Ingemarsson among its twelve members, HLTV reported.