Making it to the top of the Dota 2 leaderboards has never stopped to be a wonderful achievement, and in Europe, the competition is stiffer than ever before. For the most part, however, Dota 2 leaderboards are usually a hard nut to crack, and sometimes, the top-ranking players are not even the ones who come from top teams in the pro video gaming world. 

Having said that, the European leaderboards are currently packed with players from the CIS region, giving gamers from other parts of Europe a run for their money. Such stiff competition makes Dota 2 betting much more interesting because of the high stakes that are involved. It’s becoming harder to accurately predict who’s going to win a match as players continue edging each other out on the leaderboard. 

Not long ago, Natus Vincere was one of the leading players alongside heavy hitters in teams like Virtus.pro and even the likes of Moscow 5, among others, who were dominating the leaderboards. Things have been changing rapidly of late and particularly owing to the COVID-19 pandemic that rocked the better part of 2020 and into the new year.

Nevertheless, Dota 2 leaderboards in Europe are a sight to behold as top talent continues to present itself. In a region generally considered to be having an overabundance of players, here’s an overview of some of the bigwigs who are leading the pack on the charts.

1. Vladislav ‘Crystallize’ Krystanek

For almost three years, Crystallize has been part of the Natus Vincere team, valiantly coping with the highs and lows of the well-known organization as he continues bringing his A-game. The carry player has topped the European leaderboards several times during the last few years, continuously pushing himself to be the finest in the game. 

Although we don’t know his exact MMR, it was back in June 2020 that Crystallize managed to hit the 10,000 MMR feat. From that time, he has kept himself at the very top and has consistently proven that he’s one of the players to watch in the eSports world.

2. Danil ‘gpk’ Skutin

Gpk has been in the Dota 2 gaming scene for just about three years. However, within that short time, he has managed to hit records whilst playing for Gambit eSports. A little while after linking up with the team, gpk got the record for the highest ever hero damage in one pro game since the switch to the Source 2 engine with 203,863 from Zeus. Even though Gambit currently doesn’t have a complete roster, gpk has been offering his skills to players like FlyToMoon and Team Spirit, effectively boosting their performance overall as he waits for his team to sort itself out.

3. Egor ‘epileptick1d’ Grigorenko

Epileptick1d is the other new face in the Dota 2 gaming scene that found its birth beside Virtus. pro. As one of the younger players, epileptick1d has recently proven to a lot of onlookers that he has some mindboggling potential. The Dota 2 maestro currently plays for VP.Prodigy and has already smashed the 10,000 MMR hurdle and is now sitting at number three on the Europe leaderboards. Just like Vitalie ‘Save- ‘Melnic, his appearance on one team will likely boost his overall competitiveness and sharpen his skill further, perhaps even catapult him to the top spot. Of course, this will largely be depending on how well he performs in his ranked contests.

4. Vitalie ‘Save- ‘Melnic

Save just made an appearance in the Dota 2 professional scene a little over 18 months ago, but that didn’t really prevent him from making a name for himself as he played together with top-talents such as Virtus.pro, VP.Prodigy and FlyToMoon. For some time now, Save has proven that VP.P (Virtus.pro’s youth squad), a squad that he steers, is a force to reckon with and was even able to attain the 10,000 Matchmaking Rating accomplishment in June 2020.

5. Vladimir ‘No[o]ne Minenko

No[o]ne Minenko is one of the most popular Dota 2 players, not only within the CIS region but also across the globe. Moreover, having played together with Virtus.pro for more than three years, his middle lane skill is now pretty clear. 

Helping out the squad get to the numerous Dota 2 finals and emerging winners makes him a celebrated juggernaut in the eSports world at large. The only thing that pulls him slightly behind his counterparts in the top 5 is the elusive victory at the internationals. Still, that didn’t stop him from getting to the higher ranks of the leaderboards!

These are some of the finest players. Dota is an intense journey, and only the best of the best have earned the privilege to have the spotlight cast on them. Let’s wait and see how things will unfold over the course of 2021 as the competition continues getting stiffer.