Did s1mple fly high with the birds?
Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyljev has finally returned to CS2 with Falcons, and his first game wasn't exactly what fans expected. His shocking break at the start of CS2 rocked the Counter-Strike world. Then, the Ukrainian star did it again by announcing a comeback with Falcons. Now the star has once again shocked the world by losing to Metizport, the number 45 ranked team in the world.
Despite matching up against one of the weakest teams at BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown, Falcons failed to clinch victory in the best-of-three elimination match. s1mple's performance was far from abysmal, but the head-bopper show-stopper AWPer fans know and love was all but absent.
s1mple's first game with Falcons was slow and steady
Falcons lost the first pistol round of Metizport’s map pick Mirage, but quickly bounced back with a massive streak, earning an 8-4 advantage at the half. s1mple started slow, started 2-5 but earning a Falcons stole the momentum back after a lost pistol with a perfectly executed eco A take. A clutch from brothers Adam "adamb" Ångström and Tim "susp" Ångström delayed the inevitable, but Falcons would eventually take the intro 13-9. Emil "Magisk" Reif was the man of the map with 23 kills and 100 ADR. s1mple's very first pro CS2 game ended with a 14-3-15 KDA.
Falcons immediately stumbled on its map pick Overpass, falling behind 3-9 at the switch. Metizport consistently showed excellent team play, with entry baits into AWPs and jumping double MP9 peeks marking the first half. s1mple earned a few notable kills holding Long A, but it wasn't enough to hold off the Swedish squad. Linus "nilo" Bergman ended Overpass 22-3-5, going 8-1 in duels against Pavle "maden" Bošković.
Metizport's pistol dominance continued on Vertigo, putting s1mple's first game back into serious jeopardy. maden was the only man alive for Falcons in the first few rounds. A series of half-buys went south for the birds as nilo and adamb stacked up the frags, but Falcons clawed back with a series of clutches. The superteam switched to the T side with a 5-7 scoreline. After finally taking a pistol round, Falcons traded rounds up to 9-9. However, a second wind from IGL Erik "ztr" Gustafsson pushed Metizport over the edge. Falcons clawed out a few more rounds thanks to opening kills from maden, but the decider would end 13-11 for Metizport with a flurry from adamb.
s1mple would end his debut with a series KD of 28-29. The commentators frequently noted that he didn’t have any truly explosive moments in his return debut, which is partially due to how he fits into the roster. The GOAT has deferred AWPing responsibilities to Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia, returning to a rifler. His role is also less explosive, often taking point on site defense or playing second entry on the T side. If s1mple sticks with Falcons, expect a role change or even a return to the AWP after this rough first game.
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