s1mple’s ready to return after PGL Major Copenhagen.
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev announced that he hopes to return to competition after PGL Major Copenhagen. The Ukrainian legend announced in an interview with James Banks at IEM Katowice before the competition's grand final.
On the NAVI bench, s1mple has been out of the competition since October 2023. At the time, the player justified the break to "fix documents and take care of other people".
NAVI and s1mple's return
The player is registered as Natus Vincere's sixth player for the Major in Copenhagen in March. However, s1mple does not expect to return before the end of the competition:
"I'm the sixth player for NAVI this Major but I hope nothing will happen with their roster because they have been practicing really hard after I took a break. I just want them to progress and let's see what happens after Major."
To replace s1mple, Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov took over. The young man has s1mple's approval in these few months at Natus Vincere: "He's doing good games, he's showing his skills."
At IEM Katowice, NAVI fell at the feet of Falcons in the Lower Final of Group A.
"As always you need more time, especially when w0nderful came, I saw their progression. I was a bit frustrated when they didn't make playoffs, but it's just the beginning. I'm sure they have high ceilings for Major".
CS2 and s1mple
s1mple's last game was in the final of ESL Pro League Season 18, the last CS:GO competition. The Ukrainian player has yet to play competitively in CS2.
In the same month as the break, s1mple left harsh criticisms of the game. However, the AWPer praised the game's latest update.
s1mple's CS2 educational program
Before returning, s1mple announced the CS2 project with his brother at the HLTV Awards 2023. All Stars Promotion is intended to be a CS2 educational program.
The player also commented to Banks in the interview about this project:
"I'm pretty sure this is going to change the CS2 industry, because people will play much better, and it's going to be much harder to play against them in any competition, any casual games."
Stay tuned to esports.gg for more esports news and CS2 coverage.