Can m0NESY bring the GOAT back into action?
Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov is competing for the title of the Best Player in Counter-Strike this year. The 19-year-old has truly ascended in CS2. Despite his team facing a dissapointing end to its dominant honeymoon run at IEM Cologne, he took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a heartwarming message for the man who was his inspiration. Here's what m0NESY said to urge Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyljev to return to CS2.
"I want to send a message to a man who inspired millions of people, including me." - m0NESY to s1mple
In his tweet, m0NESY started off by sharing his original plan to share this message on the Cologne stage. But with MOUZ demolishing G2, m0NESY never got the chance. Nevertheless, his message on Twitter has garnered incredible support as everyone awaits s1mple's return.
Can a call from m0NESY - a fan, a rival, a challenger to the throne - finally bring s1mple into the action? We certainly hope so. In a year like 2024, where so many top teams are battling for trophies, s1mple can be the final spice the scene needs.
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Why is s1mple not playing CS2?
Ever since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, s1mple's life has been turned upside down. Often the GOAT of CS talked about how he had been living out of a suitcase for months on end. With all that geo-political pressure came the forced end of the 2021 NaVi roster that had been on path of glory. Considering how many years s1mple had spent in pursuit of greatness, it was all too much to bear.
Still he continued competing for over 18 months, till the launch of CS2 finally made him stop. The new game featured drastically different movement, and initially changed the way s1mple's primary weapon, the AWP, felt in-game. S1mple complained about the changes, despite his initial awe at the trailer.
Right before NaVi flew in to Sydney for the first ever CS2 LAN event, coach Andrij "B1ad3" Ghorodensjkyj was informed that s1mple had not made the journey. After a surprisingly capable stand-in stint from B1ad3, s1mple announced that he was taking a short break from CS2. NaVi brought in Ukrainian sniper Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov to replace him. While many would've thought him irreplaceable, s1mple's departure brought NaVi into a state of flux, where they eventually developed an incredible system which had brought them a Major win since.
When is s1mple coming back?
While the tweet deeply resonates with fans, analyst and pro-players alike, s1mple has not commented on it so far. Prior to the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen, s1mple hoped to be back in the server after the event concluded. But if his plan was to return with the under-performing NaVi, that went out of the window. With his 'Play-like s1mple' programme shutting down, this might be the perfect time for s1mple to jump back into the server. The question is, who can sign s1mple?
Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest CS2 news and updates.
