It has just been confirmed that Na’Vi will not be fielding s1mple for IEM Sydney 2023. The team have announced the replacement player for $250,000 CS2 tournament in Australia. This is clearly going to have a major impact on the team’s potential. Importantly, this is essential news for any Counter-Strike betting fans who plan on placing a bet on this tournament.
Who will replace s1mple at IEM Sydney 2023?
Na’Vi will be replacing Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev with their coach, Andrii “B1ad3” Gorodenskyi. The last Counter-Strike tournament that B1ad3 played was the ESEA Season 25: Global Challenge in 2017 when he was in FlipSid3 Tactics. This means that in-game mechanics are not expected to be up to scratch with team mates, let alone competition.
Why is s1mple not playing?
It has been reported that the reason s1mple won’t attend the event is because of his EU residency papers. There is a suspicion that if he travelled to Australia, he may not be able to return to the EU. See the Tweet below:
Natus Vincere roster without s1mple
Here will be the full list of players in Na’Vi that will participate in the CS2 tournament down under.
- Andrii “B1ad3” Gorodenskyi
- Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi
- Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen
- Justinas “jL” Lekavicius
- Mihai “iM” Ivan
See the official post by Natus Vincere here:
Should I bet on Na’Vi at IEM Sydney?
This poses a lot of risk for anyone planning to place wagers on Na’Vi. Missing a star player like s1mple is always going to have serious impact. Although B1ad3 is a legendary coach, this is a lot to ask for. It’s worth noting that B1ad3 is likely going to have a lot to add to the in-game leading of the team. After all, he has a incredible experience in this position. However, this will be exploited as soon as opponents identify his position on the map.
Prematch wagering on opponents might not be a bad idea, but for smarter bettors it is worth investigating how the first few rounds of play look without s1mple. Their first match is against Apeks on the 16th October 2023. All of this information, of course, is expected to seriously disrupt the odds on offer for this match. Make sure you have the best betting site and bonus available for the start of this tournament.
