Wikipedia

s1mple

In this name that follows Eastern Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Olehovych and the family name is Kostyliev.

Oleksandr Olehovych Kostyliev[b] (born 2 October 1997), better known as s1mple, is a Ukrainian professional Counter-Strike 2 player for Team Falcons, on loan from Natus Vincere.[2] He is considered to be one of the best players in Counter-Strike history.[1][3][4]

s1mple
s1mple at IEM Katowice Major 2019
Current team
TeamTeam Falcons (loan from Natus Vincere)
RoleSniper
Games
Personal information
NameОлександр Костилєв
(Oleksandr Kostyliev)
Born (1997-10-02) 2 October 1997 (age 27)
NationalityUkrainian
Career information
Playing career2013–present
RoleSniper, Rifler
Team history
2014–2015Hellraisers
2015Flipsid3 Tactics
2016Team Liquid
2016–presentNatus Vincere
2024Team Falcons (loan)[a]
Career highlights and awards

Early life

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Kostyliev was born on 2 October 1997.[5] He started playing Counter-Strike at four years old at the recommendation of his older brother. S1mple picked up Counter-Strike: Global Offensive on its release in 2012, joining his first professional team a year later.[6]

Career

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2014

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S1mple's first team was a team called LAN DODGERS, but he was soon signed by Courage Gaming. Around September 2014, s1mple was signed by a large organisation known as Hellraisers.[7] There, he joined ANGE1, Dosia, Kucher, and Markeloff, who s1mple considers his idol.[8]

2015

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In January 2015, s1mple was soon removed from Hellraisers due to his inflammatory comments about Germans, and an ESL wire ban for cheating.[9] S1mple himself says that the ban was from cheating in Counter-Strike 1.6.[10] However, records from ESL show that it was an in-game ban from when S1mple played CS:GO.[11] This ban was also extended to 2016 due to ban evasion.[12] S1mple was soon after signed by Flipsid3 Tactics, but his time in the team would cut short due to the team's semi-final exit at ESWC 2015. At this period in his career, s1mple was known for being quite "toxic", or rude to his teammates.[13][14]

2016

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After a short stint studying Chinese at a university,[6] s1mple moved to Los Angeles, United States in early 2016 and joined Team Liquid. A Team Liquid player, Spencer "Hiko" Martin, was standing in for Flipsid3 at ESWC 2015, and he developed a friendly relationship with s1mple there.[15] Team Liquid surprised at the first major, and reached the semifinals of MLG Major Championship: Columbus, before falling to the eventual champions, Luminosity Gaming. Despite this result at the game's biggest tournament, it wouldn't be long before s1mple would leave Team Liquid, citing homesickness. The next major of the year was approaching, and s1mple once again played for Team Liquid.[16] During the semifinals at ESL One Cologne 2016, Valve Corporation added a graffiti on Cache commemorating s1mple's falling AWP play against fnatic.[17] Thus, Team Liquid became the first North American team to reach a major final. They were stopped in the finals by the same Brazilian lineup of SK (formerly Luminosity Gaming).[18] After leaving Team Liquid, he replaced Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko on Natus Vincere.[19] With Na'Vi, s1mple won ESL One: New York 2016, and he was awarded the #4 placement in the HLTV top 20.[20]

2017

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During the first major of the year, ELEAGUE Major 2017, Na'Vi lost to Astralis during the quarterfinals. After a group stage exit at PGL 2017 Krakow Major Championship, Na'Vi benched Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovacs and Denis "seized" Kostin while bringing in former member Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko.[21][22] GuardiaN had been the AWPer for Na'Vi, so s1mple was forced to take up the sniper rifle after his departure. Despite these changes, Na'Vi continued their drought of results, and found a replacement for seized in the form Denis "electronic" Sharipov.[23] s1mple didn't find much success in 2017, but he still kept up his individual form from the previous year. S1mple was awarded the #8 placement in the HLTV top 20 this year, down from #4 in 2016 due to a lack of results in the team.[24]

2018

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Na'Vi started 2018 with a semi-final finish at ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018. At the start of 2018, Brazilian organisation MIBR attempted to sign s1mple and flamie. The deal was reportedly very close to being finished, but Na'Vi asked for too high of a buyout, and the deal eventually fell through.[25] After two 2nd-place finishes at Starladder & i-League StarSeries Season 4 and Dreamhack Masters Marseille, Na'Vi won their first event of the year at StarSeries & i-League Season 5; they would follow it up with wins at CAC 2018, and ESL One Cologne 2018. S1mple won MVPs at StarSeries and Dreamhack Marseille, despite his team not winning the events.[26][27][28][29][30] In the semifinals at Cologne, they beat the best team at the time, Astralis.[31] Na'Vi would lose to Astralis at the second major of the year, FACEIT Major: London 2018. Na'Vi won their final event of the year, BLAST Pro Series: Copenhagen 2018, and s1mple would once again claim the MVP award.[32] Due to s1mple's personal performance,[33] he would be nominated for the #1 spot at the HLTV top 20 players of 2018.[34] According to the statistics from HLTV, s1mple in 2018 achieved the highest individual rating out of all of previous top 20 players. In retrospect, 2018 s1mple is considered by many fans and pundits alike as the best player to ever touch CS:GO.[35][36][37][38]

2019

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Na'Vi came 3rd to 4th in the first major of the year. S1mple would keep up his form from 2018,[39] and receive an MVP at StarSeries Season 7. After this, Na'Vi would eventually hit a slump and replace s1mple's long time teammate Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev with Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov who was in September 2019 made the team's leader (or IGL).[40]

2021

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Na'Vi went into the PGL Major as the heavy favourites after placing first in their regional ranking tournament by reverse sweeping Gambit in the finals.[41] After going undefeated in the Legends stage of the Stockholm Major, Na'Vi proceeded to the playoffs, defeating home favorites NiP in the process.[42] Na'Vi retained their form and won the Major, making history by winning every single map played throughout the tournament.[43] S1mple's individual performance through the Major, including a 2.26 HLTV rating in one of the two maps against Gambit in the semifinals, earned him tournament MVP.[44][45] At the end of the year, s1mple was named Best Esports Player at The Game Awards.[46]

2023–present: Counter-Strike 2

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On 26 October 2023, s1mple announced that he would be stepping away from professional Counter-Strike competition temporarily. He would be replaced by w0nderful on 31 October.[47][48] Upon the release of Counter-Strike 2, which replaced CS:GO shortly before he stepped away, s1mple was critical of the game, saying that it was a "shit game".[49] The break would ultimately mean he would be on the bench for NaVi during PGL Copenhagen 2024, as they ended up winning their second Major.[50]

s1mple would return to professional Counter-Strike competition on 19 February 2024, signing on a one-month loan with the Saudi-based Team Falcons, which saw him compete at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown online event. This loan spell would only last 1 match, as Team Falcons lost to Metizport in the first round.[51][52] On 27 September it was announced that s1mple would return to Team Falcons on loan once more, this time for the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 Europe RMR.[53]

After last place group stage exits at ESL Challenger Katowice and Thunderpick World Championship, s1mple and Faclons placed second to last at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 Europe RMR. Following these underwhelming results, Team Falcons announced they would not extend s1mple's loan period with the organization.

Notable achievements

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Placement Tournament Location Date
With Team Liquid
  MLG Major Championship: Columbus Columbus, United States March 29, 2016 – April 3, 2016
  ESL One Cologne 2016 Cologne, Germany July 5, 2016 – July 10, 2016
With Natus Vincere
  ESL One: New York 2016 New York, United States September 30, 2016 – October 2, 2016
  StarSeries Season 3 Kyiv, Ukraine April 4, 2017 – April 9, 2017
  ESL One Cologne 2017 Cologne, Germany July 7, 2017 – July 9, 2017
  ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018 Boston, United States January 12, 2018 – January 28, 2018
  DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018 Marseille, France April 18, 2018 – April 22, 2018
  StarSeries Season 5 Kyiv, Ukraine May 28, 2018 – June 6, 2018
  CAC 2018 Shanghai, China June 14, 2018 – June 18, 2018
  ESL One Cologne 2018 Cologne, Germany July 3, 2018 – July 8, 2018
  ELeague CS:GO Premier 2018 Atlanta, United States July 21, 2018 – July 29, 2018
  FACEIT Major: London 2018 London, United Kingdom September 5, 2018 – September 23, 2018
  EPICENTER 2018 Moscow, Russia October 23, 2018 – October 28, 2018
  BLAST Pro Series: Lisbon 2018 Lisbon, Portugal December 14, 2018 – December 15, 2018
  IEM Katowice 2019 Katowice, Poland February 13, 2019 – March 3, 2019
  StarSeries Season 7 Shanghai, China March 30, 2019 – April 7, 2019
  ESL One Cologne 2019 Cologne, Germany July 2, 2019 - July 7, 2019
  DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019 Malmö, Sweden October 1, 2019 - October 6, 2019
  ESL Pro League Season 10: Finals Odense, Denmark December 3, 2019 - December 8, 2019
  ICE Challenge 2020 London, United Kingdom February 1, 2020 - February 6, 2020
  BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 Regular Season London, United Kingdom January 31, 2020 - February 16, 2020
  IEM Katowice 2020 Katowice, Poland February 24, 2020 – March 1, 2020
  ESL Pro League Season 12: Europe Europe (Online) September 1, 2020 - October 4, 2020
  IEM Beijing-Haidian 2020: Europe Europe (Online) November 6, 2020 - November 22, 2020
  IEM Global Challenge 2020 Europe (Online) December 15, 2020 - December 20, 2020
  BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020 Europe (Online) January 19, 2021 – January 24, 2021
  BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2021 Europe (Online) February 4, 2021 - February 14, 2021
  DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 Europe (Online) April 29, 2021 – May 9, 2021
  Blast Premier: Spring Finals 2021 Europe (Online) June 15, 2021 - June 20, 2021
  IEM Cologne 2021 Cologne, Germany July 6, 2021 - July 18, 2021
  ESL Pro League Season 14 Europe (Online) August 16 - September 12, 2021
  PGL Major Stockholm 2021 Stockholm, Sweden October 26, 2021 - November 7, 2021
  Blast Premier: Fall Finals 2021 Copenhagen, Denmark November 24, 2021 - November 28, 2021
  Blast Premier: World Final 2021 Copenhagen, Denmark December 14, 2021 - December 19, 2021
  PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Antwerp, Belgium May 9, 2021 - May 22, 2021
  BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2022 Lisbon, Portugal June 15, 2021 - June 19, 2021
  IEM Cologne 2022 Cologne, Germany July 7, 2022 - July 17, 2022
  IEM Katowice 2023 Katowice, Poland Feb 4th - Feb 12th 2023

Individual awards and accolades

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Rankings

MVP

  • ESL One New York 2016
  • DreamHack Winter 2017
  • StarSeries Season 4, 2018
  • StarSeries Season 5, 2018
  • ESL One Cologne 2018
  • Dreamhack Masters Marseille 2018
  • CS:GO Asia Championships 2018
  • BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen 2018[61]
  • StarSeries Season 7, 2019
  • IEM Katowice 2020
  • ESL Pro League Season 12: Europe 2020
  • BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020
  • DreamHack Masters Spring 2021
  • Starladder CIS RMR 2021
  • IEM Cologne 2021
  • ESL Pro League Season 14 2021
  • PGL Major Stockholm 2021
  • Blast Premier: World Final 2021
  • BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2022
  • IEM Cologne 2022

EVP

Other awards

  • Esports Awards, PC Player of the Year, 2018[63]
  • Esports, PC Player of the Year, 2021[64]
  • The Game Awards, Best Esports Player, 2021[46]
  • Player of the Year (HLTV Award), 2022[65]
  • AWPer of the Year (Panel Award), 2022[65]
  • Player of the Year (HLTV Award), 2021[65]
  • Intel Grand Slam Season 3 Winner[66]

Notes

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  1. ^ s1mple has had two loan spells with Team Falcons, one in February 2024 and one in September for the remainder of 2024.
  2. ^ Ukrainian: Олександр Олегович Костилєв[1]
    Russian: Александр Олегович Костылев, romanized: Aleksandr Olegovich Kostylev

References

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  1. ^ a b "At esports tournament, Ukrainian 'Counter-Strike' star calls for 'peace for Ukraine'". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 27 February 2022.
  2. ^ "S1mple" (in Russian). Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  3. ^ "HLTV names s1mple the best player in the world over dev1ce". dotesports.com. 20 January 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  4. ^ "The Thorin Treatment: s1mple and the Path of Greatness". dotesports.com. 15 November 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  5. ^ "Happy birthday, s1mple!". Natus Vincere. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  6. ^ a b CS:GO Player Profile – s1mple – Natus Vincere. Valve. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  7. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Official: Hellraisers add s1mple".
  8. ^ @s1mpleO (2 March 2018). "Bro, i watched 100 markeloff demos when I played CS 1.6 and CSGO, I respect him more than anyone and he will always stay my idol in this game" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Kornyshev, Phil (4 April 2017). "A Brief History of Bans in CS:GO". Esports Insider. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  10. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "s1mple, "I'm sorry for my actions."".
  11. ^ "Counter-Strike: Global Offensive - Germany - ESL". ESL Play. Archived from the original on 8 January 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  12. ^ "Thorin's Take: No Company for Young Men". Dexerto.com. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  13. ^ Bajaj, Abhisek (8 March 2019). "s1mple and the unquenched thirst for a Major title". Talkesport. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  14. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "S1mple Slams Flipsid3 Teammates".
  15. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Liquid sign s1mple".
  16. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "S1mple Returns to Liquid Roster".
  17. ^ Lahti, Evan (7 October 2016). "Insane CS:GO Double-Noscope Memorialized as In Game Graffiti". PC Gamer.
  18. ^ Bektaş, Bünyamin "BenjaCS". "s1mple, "We'll Do Everything We Can"".
  19. ^ Švejda, Milan "Striker". "S1mple Replaces Zeus in Na'Vi".
  20. ^ a b Burazin, Zvonimir "Professeur". "Top 20 Players of 2016: s1mple (4)". HLTV. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  21. ^ Švejda, Milan "Striker". "GuardiaN and seized Step Down From Natus Vincere".
  22. ^ Švejda, Milan "Striker". "Natus Vincere Bring in Zeus and Kane, seized Returns".
  23. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Na'Vi Confirm Electronic Signing".
  24. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Top 20 Players of 2017: s1mple (8)". hltv.org. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  25. ^ Mira, Luís. "dead: "flamie was at the airport when s1mple said he did not want to come; we wanted NiKo and shox at first" *". HLTV.org. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
  26. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "S1mple Wins StarSeries MVP Medal".
  27. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "S1mple Claims DH Marseille MVP Award".
  28. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "S1mple Claims StarSeries S5 MVP Award".
  29. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "S1mple Secures CS:GO Asia Championship MVP".
  30. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "S1mple Wins ESL One Cologne MVP Award".
  31. ^ Chiu, Stephen. "From Unheralded to Undisputed, Astralis 2018". VPEsports. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  32. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "S1mple Secures BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen MVP Award".
  33. ^ Shields, Duncan (13 March 2019). "Thorin's Take, the Superlative S1mple". VPesports. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  34. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Top 20 Players of 2018 s1mple (1)".
  35. ^ Chiu, Stephen. "The s1mple Era". VPEsports. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  36. ^ "Device: "Cейчас s1mple является лучшим игроком в мире, и это неоспоримо"". Cybersports (in Russian). 11 June 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  37. ^ Steiner, Dustin (8 April 2019). "How S1mple Proved He's CS:GO's GOAT at StarSeries". Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  38. ^ Phillips, Dom (20 January 2019). "S1mple, The Ukrainian Superstar – Part 2: The King".
  39. ^ Michael, Cale (22 April 2018). "S1mple continues to prove that he's one of the best CS:GO players in the world". Dotesports. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  40. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Na'Vi Close in on Boombl4 Deal". hltv.org. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  41. ^ "Na'Vi complete reverse sweep of Gambit in CIS RMR event final". gamelevate.com. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  42. ^ Scott Robertson (31 October 2021). "Na'Vi cap off 3-0 run in Legends Stage with victory over NiP, qualify for PGL Stockholm Major playoffs". Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  43. ^ Aaron Alford (7 November 2021). "S1mple and NaVi make history, winning first major without dropping a single map". Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  44. ^ Arron Dempsey (8 November 2021). "s1mple adds Major MVP to collection". hltv.org. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
  45. ^ "The PGL Major grand finals will be G2 vs. Na'Vi". Upcomer. 6 November 2021. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  46. ^ a b "Game Awards 2021: 'It Takes Two' wins game of the year, Activision Blizzard leaves with no wins, new 'Elden Ring' trailer details lore". Washington Post. 9 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  47. ^ Biazzi, Leonardo (26 October 2023). "S1mple confirms he's taking a break from professional CS2, shares plans for future". Dot Esports. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  48. ^ Striker (31 October 2023). "Official: NAVI sign w0nderful". HLTV.org. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  49. ^ s1mple [@s1mpleO] (5 October 2023). "I can clearly tell that if you want to become CS2 pro you still have 3 months, don't play this shit game rn, wait for updates" (Tweet) – via Twitter.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  50. ^ king_dempz (14 March 2024). "f0rest and s1mple among registered subs as rosters lock for PGL Major Copenhagen". HLTV.org. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  51. ^ Nohte (19 February 2024). "s1mple joins Falcons on loan; BOROS benched". HLTV.org. Retrieved 19 February 2024.
  52. ^ Striker (6 March 2024). "Metizport eliminate Falcons in s1mple CS2 debut". HLTV.org. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  53. ^ LucasAM; MIRAA. "Sources: s1mple to join Falcons on loan". HLTV.org. No. 27 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  54. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Top 20 Players of 2017: s1mple (8)". HLTV. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  55. ^ Mira, Luis "MIRAA". "Top 20 players of 2018: s1mple (1)". HLTV. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  56. ^ Burazin, Zvonimir "Professeur". "Top 20 players of 2019: s1mple (2)". HLTV. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
  57. ^ Milan, Švejda "Striker". "Top 20 players of 2020: s1mple (2)". HLTV. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  58. ^ Milan, Švejda "Striker". "Top 20 players of 2021: s1mple (1)". HLTV. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  59. ^ Miles, Lucas "LucasAM". "Top 20 players of 2022: s1mple (1)". HLTV. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  60. ^ "Top 20 players of 2023: s1mple (7)". HLTV. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
  61. ^ "BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen 2018". HLTV.org. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  62. ^ "FACEIT Major: the EVPs". HLTV.org. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  63. ^ Hale, Jacob (13 November 2018). "The winners of the Esports Awards 2018". Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  64. ^ "Esports Awards 2021 | Esports Awards". esportsawards.com. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  65. ^ a b c "HLTV Profile for s1mple". hltv.org. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  66. ^ Miles, Lucas (13 September 2021). "HLTV article on IGS S3". hltv.org. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
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