Superstar s1mple lights up the server in CS2 return with Falcons

The CS2 community's eyes were firmly set on opening day today, with the long-awaited return of Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyljev with Team Falcons as the main event. It has been seven months since s1mple played competitive CS2, so while expectations were low, excitement was at an all-time high.

However, the mood quickly soured as Falcons took on French team 3DMAX in the group stage opener at the Thunderpick World Championship 2. 3DMAX has been on the rise in tier-two CS2, and they weren't going to let s1mple off easy in his return in front of over 150,000 viewers.

Falcons and s1mple kicked things off on Anubis against 3DMAX. It was s1mple's first match on the map since the move to MR12, and as expected, it took some time for the Ukrainian sniper to get to grips.

S1mple went six rounds without troubling the scoreboard as 3DMAX's CT side proved impregnable. Philip "Lucky" Ewald was unstoppable early, managing 13 kills in the opening half while s1mple finally got going in round seven with the AWP.

He'd finish 4-8 in a two-round deficit, and while the switch to CT saw the map continue to swing in both directions, all the action took place away from s1mple. He went kill-less in the opening eight rounds of the second half, too, as Lucky continued tearing up the server with multi-kills and clutches of his own.

S1mple only managed two rounds with the AWP on defense as 3DMAX turned up the heat. The French squad put Falcons away 13-10. Lucky was unstoppable, racking up 22 kills while s1mple struggled, managing just six. The Ukrainian only wielded the AWP for six rounds in the 23-round map.

Falcons had lost eight of their last nine matches on Nuke, and an early anti-eco loss spelled doom once again. S1mple often found himself in impossible clutch situations as his teammates died ahead of him.

But, at 1-6 down, s1mple came to life.

Three great kills outside set s1mple up for a one-versus-two ace clutch, and after sneaking onto the B bombsite and getting the bomb down, s1mple played perfectly around smokes to deny 3DMAX the retake.

He kept his form up through the half finishing with 13 kills, but Falcons couldn't crack the 3DMAX defense again, falling to 3-9 in the first half. More heroics from the sniper in the pistol round had many questioning a comeback.

Once he got the AWP in his hands, s1mple stepped up in a big way, putting the team on his back and managing numerous opening kills that led to round wins. Falcons worked back into the map, but 3DMAX proved too good on the T side, spoiling s1mple's return 13-9.

S1mple finished Nuke with an awesome 27-16 stat line and, despite the 0-2 loss, has piqued the interest of the community as only he is capable of. He won't have long to rest, with Falcons suiting up to play the loser of Virtus.pro against OG later today.

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