HLTV updated its Prospects ranking methodology for April 2026, adopting a nine-factor model that shifts from z-scores to percentiles to better reflect sample sizes and opponent difficulty.

The piece highlights poiii’s influences from donk and NiKo and his public drive to lift performance as 100 Thieves seeks to qualify for larger events and the Major.

A regional diversity rule now ensures broader representation by including the top 40 players and applying a regional quota when needed, with minimums from Asia, South America, North America, and Oceania.

Nikita 'cmtry' Samolotov cracks the top ten, while Liam 'MaiL09' Tügel climbs after solid showings on loan with Alliance and a 1.21 rating in the past month.

Readers can explore HLTV Prospects data via a Tableau interactive dashboard, though the platform was temporarily down for maintenance at publication.

New factors include FACEIT ELO to capture early success on third-party platforms, alongside existing metrics such as weightedRating, formRating, roundWinRating, weightedLAN, playoffRating, and evpPoints.

The story provides embedded context on past seasons and links to related HLTV Prospects stories from January to March 2026 for deeper background.

The article explains how the revised formula affects players with limited LAN data or top-level opposition, using examples like Vyacheslav 'slaxejezzz' Vinokurov and Gleb 'gr1ks' Gazin to illustrate shifts.

Džiugas 'dziugss' Steponavičius rises to the number one spot in April 2026 after standout showings at PGL Bucharest, overtaking Kacper 'xKacpersky' Gabara.

The ranking emphasizes recent form (45%), offline pedigree (45%), and external factors (10%) to balance sample size and opposition level.

Profile of poiii (Alex Nyholm Sundgren) as a rising Swedish prospect with 100 Thieves, tracing his path from Lilmix to EYEBALLERS and then to 100 Thieves, his role stability, and growing drive to compete at higher levels.