HLTV Prospects September 2026: Dawy Takes No. 1, Jorko and gr1ks Break Into the Top 10

HLTV has released its September Prospects update. David "Dawy" Bibik is now No. 1, followed by xeedo and kl1m. Jorko and gr1ks have moved into the top 10, while several new names have appeared further down the ranking.

One newcomer in particular stands out: tired73. The Ukrainian is only 17, has 4,293 FACEIT ELO, and enters the ranking at No. 41.

"1. HLTV Prospects September 2026: Dawy Takes No. 1, Jorko and gr1ks Break Into the Top 10","1.1. Dawy Takes the Top Spot","1.2. Jorko and gr1ks Reach the Top 10","1.3. tex1y Jumps 21 Places","1.4. tired73 Debuts at No. 41","1.5. xelex and JBOEN Are No Longer Prospects","1.6. What to Take From the September Update"

Dawy Takes the Top Spot

Dawy climbed two places to become the Prospects leader for the first time. It is not exactly a sudden rise. The Ukrainian has been near the top for a while and was already No. 2 in January. He later dropped out of the top 10, but gradually worked his way back.

The 18-year-old currently plays for Inner Circle. At the time of the update, Dawy had a 1.18 Rating 3.0 across 53 maps over the previous three months.

The September top five:

RankPlayerChange1Dawy+22xeedo+23kl1m-14MaiL09+15poiii+2

xeedo continues to climb as well. The K27 player gained another two spots and is now just one place away from the top.

kl1m, meanwhile, dropped to third. In his case, though, a Prospects ranking is becoming less important. He has already spent time playing for MIBR and is at the stage where his next full-time team matters more than his position among young prospects.

Jorko and gr1ks Reach the Top 10

Two new names have entered the top 10.

17-year-old Jorko moved from No. 12 to No. 7. The Bulgarian is already playing for Liquid, so he might not remain a "prospect" for much longer.

gr1ks made an even bigger move, climbing from 16th to ninth. His Esports World Cup qualifier performance certainly helped, with gr1ks finishing the run with an average 1.58 rating.

The full top 10 is now: Dawy, xeedo, kl1m, MaiL09, poiii, qw1nk1, Jorko, b1st, gr1ks, and syph0.

tex1y Jumps 21 Places

The biggest riser in September is tex1y. He went from 37th all the way to 16th.

One reason for the jump was his performance at Moscow Cyber Games, where tex1y posted a 1.27 rating. He is still some distance away from the top 10, but a 21-place jump in a single update makes him a player worth keeping an eye on.

ogwizard also made serious progress, climbing 12 places to No. 33.

tired73 Debuts at No. 41

Of all the newcomers, tired73 is probably the most interesting.

Andrii "tired73" Hlushko is 17 years old and had 4,293 FACEIT ELO when the ranking was compiled. Over the previous six months, he had maintained a 1.26 rating.

There is one catch. At the time, tired73 had yet to play an official map against a top-50 team. So No. 41 is less about what he has already achieved at the highest level and more about the potential HLTV sees in him.

His numbers at lower levels are already impressive. tired73 posted a 1.37 Rating 3.0 at ESL Challenger League Season 52 Europe Cup 2 and a 1.66 rating across four maps at the ESEA Season 57 Europe Finals.

Alongside tired73, Flierax (#32), m1QUSE (#36), Beccie (#37), bl1x1 (#39), Kunai (#42), chengking (#45), and Rkzinho (#49) also made their September debuts.

Rkzinho is only 16, making him the youngest player in this edition of the ranking.

xelex and JBOEN Are No Longer Prospects

xelex and JBOEN were both in the top 10 in August, but neither appears in the September ranking. The reason is simple: both have been moved to graduate status.

HLTV checks every month whether players still meet the Prospects eligibility requirements. Age is not the only factor. The number of official maps played against teams at different levels also matters. Once a player gains too much experience, they graduate from the ranking.

So seeing prospect=0 in the archive does not necessarily mean a player has disappeared or fallen off. In the case of xelex and JBOEN, it means they have simply outgrown the ranking's eligibility criteria.

AW, Zero, lattykk, mo0N, and Ltz also left the list this month.

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What to Take From the September Update

The biggest change is right at the top: Dawy is now No. 1, xeedo is No. 2, and kl1m sits third.

But the players just below them may be more interesting to watch. Jorko is already seventh, gr1ks is ninth, and tex1y gained 21 places in a month. tired73 is only 41st for now, but he is 17 and already sitting at 4,293 FACEIT ELO.

A few updates from now, some of these names may disappear from Prospects altogether. That would not necessarily be a bad thing. It could simply mean they have gained enough high-level experience to graduate.