molodoy breaks into HLTV Top 20 at #6

20-year old Kazakh AWPer Danil "molodoy" Golubenko has made his debut appearance in HLTV's Top 20 in his rookie year. Currently the front runner for the Rookie of the Year by a big stretch, molody's Counter-Strike origins were humble like many, enjoying casual games with friends during his early days and eventually taking a break to focus on academics. CS2's release lined up molodoy's freshman year and the new iteration of the game rekindled his ambitions to play at the top level.

molodoy started attending local LANs with ALLINNERS and DMS and despite the team's struggles, molodoy was a standout player averaging a 1.16 rating over four months. The entire lineup was later picked up by AMKAL making regular playoffs appearances at online events. molodoy once again shone bright with an impressive 1.26 rating over three months, earning him his breakthrough. In a bold move, FURIA picked up molodoy as the Kazakh rookie joined forces with legendary Brazilian veterans FalleN and KSCERATO. FURIA also brought in YEKINDAR, creating a powerhouse on paper.

Probably my favorite and most memorable moment of the year was winning a full tier-one tournament at IEM Chengdu.
molodoy

molody had a poetic LAN debut in front of a home crowd in Astana, Kazakhstan. PGL Astana was Kazakhstan's first S-tier LAN event. FURIA blitzed their way into the playoffs and in the quarter-finals against MIBR, molody lit up the arena with a 2.16 rating game on Train, closing the series for FURIA, setting up a semi-final bout with Spirit which they would go on lose but the message was clear- the new look FURIA was not to be underestimated.

Their run at PGL Astana remained the deepest for FURIA in the first season of 2025 as the team was hard at work fitting in these two new pieces but molodoy was still fragging, putting up impressive numbers. Finally, in September 2025 FURIA broke through with a win at FISSURE Playground #2, taking down the world #1 at the time- The MongolZ, marking molodoy's first ever S-tier LAN win. FURIA added two more S-tier trophies at BLAST Rivals and IEM Chengdu alongside an A-tier win at Thunderpick World Championship 2025.

His standout performance came against NAVI at Thunderpick World Championship in the grand-final. After conceding Mirage and Inferno, FURIA were on the brink of defeat before FalleN and YEKINDAR stepped up to sweep NAVI out of Nuke and Dust2 to level the series at 2-2. molodoy was the ultimate difference maker as the 20-year old dropped phenomenal 2.26 rating on the decider Train, going 20-3 at an ADR of 119. Holding a round swing of 14.47%, molodoy destroyed NAVI as FURIA picked up a dominant 13-1 win on Train to secure the grand-final.

molodoy finished 2025 with four title wins and two MVPs at FISSURE Playground #2 and IEM Chengdu. He also secured EVP nods at IEM Cologne and Thunderpick World Championship, putting him far ahead in the Rookie of the Year race. molodoy displayed elite form throughout the year with his rating dropping below 1.00 at just one event. molodoy's individual brilliance and impressive form against top opposition earns him a HLTV Top 20 entry towards the upper end. For his bold prediction, molodoy went with 19-year old her1tage who he knew from computer clubs and local LANs.