Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev is returning to a major for the first time since 2023 — and he's doing it with FaZe. In an interview with HLTV, s1mple shared his first impressions of the new team, the bootcamp in the USA, the similarities between karrigan and Zeus, and his desire to play again in front of an arena full of fans.

Majors remain a special and eagerly anticipated tournament for him — even despite the unsuccessful experience in Shanghai (Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR A).

I was at the last one in Shanghai, it didn't go so well, but still. I miss playing on the stage of a Major. It's the most cool thing that can happen, playing in front of fans at a Major, yeah.

 

FaZe had a challenging debut at IEM Dallas, but s1mple says the team improved after the bootcamp.

I'm looking for more. After Dallas we had a good bootcamp, I think I got into much better form. But still, it would have been nice if we had a chance to play with rain because we would see more mistakes, what we need to fix. But I think it was still fine, and just looking forward to play as the whole team tomorrow.

 

Once opponents, now teammates. s1mple admits he enjoys playing with the scene's legends.

They're just so calm, you know? Their aim is so crispy and clean. It's nice, it's really nice to play with him.

 

He particularly highlights karrigan, comparing him to Zeus from the legendary NAVI 2018 era.

I like how he makes his decisions during the mid-round and he can instantly tell everyone what to do. In three seconds he can explain to everyone what to do. It reminds me of Zeus in 2018, when he was in peak form, when he was on fire, he was explaining to the whole NAVI team what we need to do and how we should outplay them right now.

 

Despite ZywOo's MVP record, s1mple doesn't feel envy — but he's confident things could have been different.

Not really, because I'm not playing. I'm pretty sure it would have been different if I was playing for all these months that I missed. But I'm looking forward to facing against him. He's the best player in the world, and let's see, let's see.

 

The goal at the major remains ambitious, although the team's mood has shifted along the way.

Of course the goal is the trophy. First of all, we need to go to Stage 3, and after we need to go to playoffs. I just want to play in front of a crowd. When I joined at the beginning, karrigan said, 'We're going to win the Major.' A few weeks later, our goal is to go to playoffs, maybe tomorrow only Stage 3, but we'll see. The main goal is always to win the tournament, and everything can happen at a Major.

 

For now, his status with FaZe is temporary, but s1mple doesn't rule out staying.

We will see, we will see what's gonna be my options. Yeah, we'll see.