The Russian star put on a dominant performance in the grand final to clinch his second accolade in the last three months.

Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov has been named HLTV.org's Most Valuable Player of IEM Summer following the conclusion of the $250,000 tournament's grand final, which saw Gambit secure a flawless victory against OG in a best-of-five affair.

The 19-year-old rifler spearheaded the Russian team's run to the title with a terrifying performance and an exceptionally consistent level, topping the charts almost every step of the way as he recorded 1.40+ ratings on nine out of the twelve maps Gambit won over the course of the tournament.

Ax1Le beat his grand final opponent Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski as well as teammate Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov to the individual award on the back of a brilliant display in the title decider itself, in which he was the highest-rated player and best damage-dealer on each of the three maps.

The Russian youngster now has two MVP awards to his name — one more than sh1ro — after having earned his first in Gambit's runners-up campaign at ESL Pro League Season 13 in early March. The only other player to have claimed two MVP awards this year so far is Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev, as you can see in the list below.

2021 MVPs by HLTV.org:

BLAST Premier Global Final- Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev
cs_summit 7- Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali
IEM Katowice- Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov
ESL Pro League 13- Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov
FunSpark ULTI Europe Final- Justin "⁠FaNg⁠" Coakley
DreamHack Masters Spring- Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev
Flashpoint 3- David "⁠frozen⁠" Čerňanský
EPIC League CIS- Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov
IEM Summer- Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov