Stojkov unexpectedly joined the KDA leaders: PGL Wallachia Season 9 statistics

Following the group stage of PGL Wallachia Season 9, several players stood out with unexpectedly strong statistics. One of the biggest surprises was Aurora Gaming midlaner Igor Stojkov Stojkov, who finished the first stage with a KDA of 8.65.

The result stands out especially considering his form before the championship. Stojkov entered the tournament on a ten-map losing streak, but won six of his nine games in Bucharest. He averaged 10.78 kills and 2.89 deaths per map, while his GPM and XPM were 618 and 925, respectively.

His most successful hero was Ember Spirit. Igor picked the hero three times and won all three maps: twice against Team Cobra and once against Pipsqueak+4. Across those games, the midlaner recorded 42 kills and nine deaths. During the group stage, he also played Storm Spirit, Lina and Invoker.

Alimzhan watson Islambekov posted an even higher KDA. The Team Yandex carry played seven maps and finished them with a KDA of 16.75, including four games without a single death. Across the entire group stage, his opponents managed to kill him only eight times.

At the same time, watson played five different heroes. Nature's Prophet and Lone Druid appeared twice each, while he played one map each on Templar Assassin, Kez and Sven. One of his most productive performances came against MOUZ, where he finished the game on Nature's Prophet with a 17/0/10 score. In the series against Natus Vincere, he also did not die once, finishing the maps with scores of 12/0/9 on Sven and 3/0/22.

Xtreme Gaming carry Wang Ame Chunyu, meanwhile, stood out for the size of his hero pool. Across nine maps, the Chinese player used nine different heroes without repeating a single one. This variety did not prevent him from delivering strong results: he finished the group stage with a KDA of 6.3, while his form rating at the tournament increased by 42%. This is particularly notable after Xtreme unsuccessful performance at The International 2026, where the team finished 14th-15th.

Chang Ws Wei Shen of Aurora Gaming also stood out with his diverse hero selection. The offlaner did not repeat a single hero throughout the group stage, playing nine different heroes. For comparison, Jonas SabeRLight Volek needed 15 games to play the same number of different heroes, while Artem lorenof Melnik and Abdimalik Malik Sailau needed 14 each.

The championship unfolded very differently for Pipsqueak+4. The team fell just short of the playoffs, but Denis rincyq Bogushev became one of the most productive players of the first stage. He was particularly impressive in the series against Team Cobra, recording 53 kills across three maps, two of which he played on Nature's Prophet.

Rincyq picked Kez most often, playing the hero on five maps. He also delivered one of the most notable individual performances of the group stage on the hero: in an 86-minute game against Yakult Brothers, Bogushev finished the map with a 24/6/23 score. In addition to Kez, he played Nature's Prophet, Shadow Fiend, Tiny and Muerta during the tournament.

Taras gotthejuice Linnikov also posted strong individual numbers. The Natus Vincere carry started the tournament with two wins over Hokori, and after losing to Team Yandex, he helped his team defeat 1win Team and advance to the playoffs. He did not die once across the two winning maps of the final series, finishing them with scores of 5/0/14 and 8/0/7.

Across nine games, the Ukrainian played seven different heroes. Terrorblade was the only hero he picked twice, while in the final series of the group stage, gotthejuice played Nature's Prophet, Faceless Void and Lone Druid in succession. Thus, despite fluctuating results between series, the carry maintained a wide hero pool throughout the first stage of the championship.

At the same time, some players started the new season with noticeably weaker numbers compared to their previous results. The biggest decline in form, more than 30% compared to last season, was recorded for Zhou Emo Yi, Xiang Beyond Zhenghong and Souliya JaCkky Khoomphetsavong. For David Parker Nicho Flores and Indji shad Lub, this figure dropped by 15%.

These values reflect changes in the players' statistical form rather than only the results of their teams at the tournament.

The group stage of PGL Wallachia Season 9 ended on September 23. The eight best teams advanced to the playoffs, where matches are played in a Double Elimination format. The prize pool is $1,000,000, and the tournament winner will be determined on September 27. You can follow the championship in our coverage.

Earlier, CyberScore reviewed the main meta changes at this championship compared to The International 2026.