Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, one of the greatest Counter-Strike players ever seen, has recently confirmed his decision to take a break from competitive CS. His announcement came during a period of reports that Natus Vincere (NaVi) were looking to sign Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov from the Sprout organisation.
The 26-year-old Ukrainian, best known for his use of the AWP, mentions that need to address personal issues as well as document-related concerns. Particularly in relation to his own documentation, this could present an issue for him to reliably play competitively on an international level. This is due to the amount of travel that is typically involved to be a professional Counter-Strike player.
s1mple has confirmed his interest to returning to competitive Counter-Strike at some point. He mentions that he would also be open to a non-AWP role. However, one of the most curious parts of his announcement is suggesting that he has his own CS2 project that he is working on. He gave no further information on this but one can speculate that he might look to build his own team.
Over all, s1mple has over $1,700,000 USD in prize earnings from Counter-Strike. He has multiple accolades that he has accumulated. This includes being number 1 of HLTV’s top 20 list on three occasions. He also has 17 noteworthy trophies as well as an Intel Extreme Masters Grand Slam. This is part of ESL‘s premier tournament circuit.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine evidently put a lot of strain on his ability to focus at the top-most level. This was around the time that Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov was benched, a player who made a big impact with his ability to lead in-game.
s1mple has received criticism in the past for his behaviour on teams. Some cited that it brings a high-pressure negative environment if anyone on the team is underperforming. He has also been highly critical of the change from CS:GO to CS2. He clearly believes that the game is not yet ready for competitive play. And, of course, it was very noticeable when it was announced that he would not participate in Counter-Strike 2’s first LAN – IEM Sydney 2023.
Despite s1mple announing his break, he will never have a problem finding a new team if he wishes to play competitively. He is a true star of the game where few players have had bigger impact. Although for anyone placing bets on NaVi, it should be approached with caution as the team is now taking a very different shape.
