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| (Image Source: eSports Charts/The eSports Awards) |
The eSports Awards presented by Thunderpick, the biggest and most prestigious night in eSports, recently announced a further selection of finalists for its annual award show. Announced as part of its Spotlight Show hosted by Soe Gshcwind, James “Dash” Patterson, and Evan “Raynday” Raynr, the likes of AG.AL, Chen “Bin” Zebin, and Danil “Donk” Kryshkovets were all named as finalists.
The 2026 eSports Awards will take place on November 17th in Miami, Florida, bringing the eSports and gaming community together for an evening of celebration and recognition. Alongside the main ceremony, attendees can look forward to a host of exciting side events including the eSports Awards Invitational, Lifetime Achievement Mixer, and PWR UP B2B Conference. Here is the second wave of categories and finalists for the 2026 eSports Awards.
eSports Breakthrough Player of the Year
Jaime “Craime” Bustos
Bruno “Neon” Rodríguez
Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin
Danil “Molodoy” Golubenko
Oltean “shxrk” Rareș Ștefan
Khawaja “M. Zubair” Muhammad Zubair
Jeremiah “Nium” Harrison
Alexey “not me” Kosmynin
Sin “Smash” Guem-jae
Ștefan “Sayonara” Mîtcu
eSports Team of the Year
Team Vitality - Counter-Strike 2
Optic Texas - Call of Duty
PARIVISION - Dota 2
Bilibili Gaming - League of Legends
Team Spirit - Counter-Strike 2
100 Thieves - Valorant
Team Spirit - Dota 2
Gentle Mates - Rocket League
FaZe Clan - Rainbow Six Siege
Team Falcons - Rocket League
eSports PC Player of the Year
Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut
Illya “Yatoro” Mulyarchuk
Danil “Donk” Kryshkovets
Kim “Peyz” Soo-hwan
Chen “Bin” Zebin
Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk
Taylor-Petrik “vic0” Gatschelhofer
Miguel “Blinkzr” Quiles
Jaime “Cyber” Pereira Ramos
Marschal “Terra” Weaver
eSports Controller Player of the Year
Saul “MenaRD” Leonardo Mena II
Brandon “Dashy” Otell
Chris “Simp” Lehr
Saleh “Rw9” Abdullah Bakhashwin
Nassim “Nass” Bali
Axel “Vatira” Touret
Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique
Khawaja “M. Zubair” Muhammad Zubair
eSports Organization of the Year
AG.AL
Team Vitality
Team Falcons
Team Spirit
Gentle Mates
Karmine Corp
T1
G2 eSports
NAVI
Team Liquid
Virtus.Pro
FaZe Clan
eSports Coach of the Year
Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam
Damon “Karma” Barlow
Yaroslav “Miposhka” Naidenov
Clement “Puppey” Ivanov
Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho
Nikita “Coldstar” Morozov
Yoon “Homme” Sung-young
Rafael “RafadeLL” Batista de Oliveira
Dennis “sycrone” Benthin Nielsen
eSports Play by Play Caster of the Year
Alex “Machine” Richardson
Victoria “VikkiKitty” Perez
Connor “Scrawny” Girvan
Owen “ODPixel” Davies
Brandon Smith
Miles Ross
Mark “Onset” Hatcher
Steven “Tasty Steve” Scott
Mitch “Uber” Leslie
Joey “Jorby” Ahrens
Seth “Achilios” King
Max “Atlus” Anderson
eSports Colour Caster of the Year
Daniel “Gaskin” Gaskin
Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson
Ioannis “Fogged” Loucas
Chad “SPUNJ” Burchill
James “Jamesbot” Villar
Thomas “Chance” Ashworth
Mohan “launders” Govindaswamy
Cameron “CJCJ” Johns
Niclas “Pengu” Mouritzen
Isaac “Azael” Cummings-Bentley
Vicki “GottMoxi” Johnson
eSports Host of the Year
Iain Chambers
Jake “SirActionSlacks” Kanner
Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere
Lauren “GlitterXplosion” Laracuente
Barney Banks
Freya Spiers
Evan “Raynday” Byron Ryanr
Salome “Soe” Gschwind-Repp
Sean “Stax” Stackhouse
Chris “Puckett” Puckett
eSports Analyst of the Year
Tyler “TBates” Bates
Anthony “NAMELESS” Wheeler
Quinn “Quinn” Callahan
Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg
Beatriz “kaquka” Alonso
John “Jhawk” Harris
Léo “Alphama” Robine
Emily Rand
Jacob “Pimp” Winneche
Mira “Ephey” Riad
Barento “Raz” Mohammed
“We’re thrilled to unveil the second wave of finalists for this year’s eSports Awards. The calibre of talent, represented across this year’s categories, is a testament to the continued growth and impact of our industry. We’re excited to celebrate these incredible finalists in Miami and look forward to bringing everyone together for what promises to be an unforgettable evening,” said The eSports Awards CEO Michael Ashford.
Gaming enthusiasts and eSports fans can vote for their favorites at www.esportsawards.com/vote until November 10, 2026. They can make their votes count twice as much during Turbo Week, running on November 3-10, 2026, where every vote submitted carries double the weight in the final push. The eSports Awards is proudly partnered with Thunderpick, eSports World Cup, Oakley, Hotspawn, Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Miami DDA.
