Natus Vincere player in CS2, Justin jL Lekavicius, reflected on Alexander s1mple Kostylev's decision to take a break from the competitive scene. The Lithuanian esports athlete commented on the situation during the HLTV Confirmed podcast.

jL said that the departure of the “best player” of the team to inactive status was a surprise for him. He also noted that such decisions are not made quickly.

For me, [s1mple's move to inactive] was a shock. Well, not exactly a shock, I just didn't expect that we would lose the best player in the team, it was just hard to imagine. But yes, s1mple had been thinking about a break for quite a while. I didn't know about it, but to make such a decision, you need to think it over. Everything doesn’t happen with a snap of the fingers: 'I want to take a break.

Justin jL Lekavicius

Lekavicius commented on signing a replacement for s1mple. According to him, Igor w0nderful Zhdanov was the best option for NAVI.

We had a pause and we didn't know what to do. We didn't have many options. All the good snipers were already busy. We decided that w0nderful would be the best solution for us. There were also other players we could take, but w0nderful was the best.

Justin jL Lekavicius

READ MORE: s1mple does not think about moving to Valorant

On October 26, s1mple announced a temporary break in his career. The Ukrainian esports athlete decided to focus on personal matters, he also stated that it would be interesting to consider offers from other organizations. It is important to note that as early as the summer of 2022, Kostylev was contemplating taking a career break.