The absence of s1mple at the first tier-1 CS2 tournament gave rise to many rumors about the condition of the NAVI superstar. Either the Ukrainian felt ill, or drowned in booze, or there is a problem with living in Europe, or he signed a contract with the Falcons. And after NAVI’s very strong, considering the circumstances, performance in Sydney, we must admit that the thought of Kostyliev leaving seems very intriguing.
IEM Sydney 2023 brought fans of professional Counter-Strike an entertaining observation - NAVI without Alexander “s1mple” Kostylev and a replacement coach are capable of creating strong competition for the best teams in the world. And, by the way, this was achieved while playing with Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy, who hasn’t played on the big stage for many years and hasn’t made many frags. Could the club's management come to the conclusion that NAVI can claim big titles without s1mple? Very likely.
What options does s1mple have then, unable to attend the championship due to document issues? It's impossible not to think about Falcons, who plan to rebuild their roster, including star players, and aim to compete for titles almost from the get-go. The transition of the legendary Ukrainian could benefit both Kostylev himself and NAVI. And we'll explain why.
Losing the star isn’t a death sentence
Since a deal like this with the Falcons could potentially break all records in terms of cost in Counter-Strike history, NAVI could afford to buy out almost any player. After all, the transfer amount will be measured not even in hundreds of thousands of dollars, but in several millions. That's enough to snag any world-class rifler or sniper for the team, except maybe ZywOo and NiKo.
We mean that Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy’s system, combined with his scouting experience (if the decision is made to search for young talent), will allow the organization to continue staying at the top, even without the once indisputably best CS:GO esports player. “Born to Win” had to play without s1mple in the past, showing good results.
The roster might have to spend a year or more adapting to new realities, searching for a suitable promising player, but in the long run, it's within their capabilities to return to the top-5 organizations. One option is to bring back Daniil “headtr1ck” Valitov from NIP, especially since the Ukrainian organization might well have the right of first refusal. A hybrid sniper is exactly what's needed in the current CS2 meta. As a last resort, they could return jL to his AWP and focus on finding a talented rifler.
Speaking of jL, we can't help but note the fact that he played at an excellent level in Sydney, with an average rating of 6.7. It was he who played the role of a sniper in the absence of s1mple, showing his best side and being the first to make 30 frags per map on the LAN in CS2.
b1t was able to play even better with a rating of 6.8. We can say for sure that the transition to the new version of the game did not negatively affect Vakhovsky, and now his aim is as excellent as ever. It is possible that it is all about psychology, and that playing together with s1mple sometimes creates tension when you want to live up to the level of the legend without falling under his criticism. Without Alexander, the role of first violin will go to b1t - maybe he is really ready for this?
Remembering jL and b1t, it’s worth adding a few words about iM: a rating of 5.6 is clearly not what is expected from the Romanian, who once again cannot find his game. He still has a long way to go in terms of adapting to the team.
Time to leave the comfort zone
A change of scenery could benefit s1mple. It's no secret that in terms of individual form, he has somewhat fallen off, lacking the proper motivation to play in "broken" CS2. Relocation, the war in Ukraine, European bureaucracy, which caused Alexander to miss IEM Sydney 2023 – such things have a significant impact on one's psychological state. This, in turn, affects game performance. So why not start afresh in a new team?
Let's not forget that he will be performing under the guidance of the most successful coach, Danny “zonic” Sorensen – he's now assembling a super team, having a very generous Falcons budget, which will help cover any transfer expenses. With s1mple in their arsenal, such a lineup will become a formidable opponent at any major tournament and is highly likely to bring the Ukrainian several titles before the end of his professional career.
A super-star of Kostylev's caliber needs a new challenge – during his time with NAVI, he won a major, the Intel Grand Slam, and other prestigious events. His untouchable status would protect him from being kicked, tempting him to "steal paychecks," even if this goes against s1mple's competitive nature. The only issue could be Alexander's tilt-prone character if no one can find the right approach to him.
A unique window of opportunity
Counter-Strike 2 is facing changes, the scale of which is hard to predict, the meta is awaiting transformations, and several rosters will encounter reshuffles because not everyone can transition painlessly to the new version of the shooter. It's clear that for at least another half-year, if not the entire year, the professional scene will be in a state of disarray. This, in turn, could provide certain teams with the conditions to create their own era, as was the case with NIP in the early years of CS:GO – they were the first to find a winning formula while others were still transitioning from CS 1.6.
Let's remind that the next tournament for NAVI will be the BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023. It starts on November 22 in Copenhagen. Whether we will see any reshuffles in the ranks of "Born to Win" or not – time will tell.
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