MIHAJA
The Nomination Process
When the awards were unveiled in December last year, the Maltese Esports Association made a public call for nominees. Until the end of 2024, the general public was allowed to submit their nominations for each category. From these public nominations, a shortlist has been drafted for each category. The winners for each category will be unveiled live during the awards ceremony on the 7th of February.
RPG Player of the Year
This category is dedicated to the best player in competitive role-playing games (RPGs). Nominees should demonstrate mastery of mechanics, deep game knowledge, and a high level of in-game achievement.
Naim “NerfGanon” Spiteri
NerfGanon is a Pokemon VGC Competitor. He has been attending official international Pokemon VGC championships since 2023. Throughout these tournaments, NerfGanon consistently placed in the top half of participants. His most impressive achievement came in November 2024. In the confusingly named 2025 Pokemon VGC Regional Championship in Gdansk, NerfGanon ended in 27th place out of 478 participants.
Nicholas “Roronoa” Catania
Roronoa is a One Piece TCG player but apart from that I wasn’t able to find out much about him. He took part in the OPE Chopper Event – Road to Regionals Event 2. At this event, he won a game and lost three. It will be interesting to see if Roronoa will take part in more events in the future!
Kledi “PureGodXI” Azzopardi
PureGodXI is a Souls-like achievement hunter. In 2024 he collected all the achievements and 100% various high difficulty games. Among these games, there is the entire Dark Souls Series, Elden Ring, Sekiro and Black Myth Wukong.
Female Player of the Year
Recognizing the most outstanding female esports competitor in Malta, this category honours a player who has delivered great performances, broken barriers and served as a role model for aspiring female gamers on the island!
Joan Marie “Kiccie” Spiteri
Kiccie is a Maltese streamer with a relatively successful following on Twitch. She primarily streams Apex Legends but also plays Overwatch. Over the years she has also competed in several online Apex Legends tournaments.
Rachel “Raeychii” Azzopardi
Raeychii is an active Tekken player in Malta. She took part in the Tekken City Casuals Malta S2 last year. During this event she placed 13th out of 16, 25th out of 26 and 25th out of 29 across three ladders. She has continued to compete in 2025 and has already seen much better results coming 16th out of 23, 11th out of 21 and 22nd out of 30 in the first three ladders of the Tekken City Casuals Malta S3. It’s great to see that Raeychii has stuck with Tekken and continues to improve consistently.
Maya Laferla
Maya Laferla is a Maltese sim-racer. At Playcon 2023, she was the winner of the women’s sim-racing competition. In 2024 she took part in the Moza Malta GT Cup.
Rhea “DisJinx” White
DisJinx is a local Twitch streamer. While she has been inactive for a few years, she used to be a League of Legends streamer. In 2021 she also took part in the League of Legends GamingMalta Autumn Series Lan where she placed 2nd.
Francesca “Cynder Dragoneye” Brincat
Cynder Dragoneye takes part in Tekken tournaments locally. In 2024 she participated in the Tekken City Casuals Malta S2 and placed 17th out of 20, 26th out of 34 and 22nd out of 29 across three different ladders. With her overall results improving at every ladder, we hope to see Cynder Dragoneye continue to be active in the local Tekken scene!
Conclusion
We’re now just three days away from the Maltese Esports Awards. Stay tuned for more coverage as we continue to bring all the news about the awards!
