NAVI to sign w0nderful as s1mple takes a break from CS

After more than seven years with the Ukrainian organization, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, one of the all-time greats in CS:GO, has been officially dropped from NAVI’s active roster.

After star player Oleksandr “S1mple” Kostyliev decided to step down from the active roster, Natus Vincere, one of the most well-known teams in the competitive CS scene, is about to make a significant roster move. HLTV reports that the Ukrainian organization has been looking for S1mple’s replacement for a few days and has finally found him in Ihor “⁠w0nderful⁠” Zhdanov. According to the reports, NAVI is in advanced talks to buy the young AWPer out of his contract with German esports organization Sprout.

s1mple’s break from CS: end of an era or temporary hiatus?

In 2016, s1mple left Team Liquid to join NAVI, where he went on to become a Counter-Strike legend and lead the team to unprecedented success. Throughout his remarkable seven-year tenure with the Ukrainian esports league, he helped NAVI win a number of major competitions, such as the elusive Intel Grand Slam and the highly sought-after PGL Major Stockholm 2021, BLAST Premier: World Final 2021, IEM Cologne 2021. Moreover, S1mple won a total of 21 MVP awards across various CS:GO competitions, making him the ‘Player of the Year’ a total of three times.

So what’s next, time to take break as I wanted but that’s only half of story
Need to fix documents and take care of other people in my life
About switching to other org : never thought about it but would be interesting to see offers, maybe on rifle since awp a bit not impactful…

— Sasha (@s1mpleO) October 26, 2023

 

However, when S1mple did not show up for the most recent IEM Sydney, many began to believe that the Ukrainian superstar was about to drop out of the roster. After a week, he has now published a statement on Twitter, stating that he is taking a break from competitive play. The primary reasons for his decision, according to him, were the necessity to “fix documents and take care of other people in [his] life.”

S1mple signed a three-year extension with NAVI in 2022, thus his deal with the Ukrainian organization runs until October 2025. HLTV reports that S1mple has no intention of leaving NAVI. S1mple, however,  stated he would be willing to look into other offers and would even think about switching to a new in-game role—perhaps switching from the AWP to a rifle.

On the other side, W0nderful, S1mple’s potential replacement, is one of the most intriguing prospects in the CS scene. He gained notoriety while playing for Team Spirit from June 2022 to June 2023. He joined Sprout’s roster in July and, based on 155 maps played this year, has an average rating of 1.23, according to HLTV.

If the deal comes to fruition, NAVI’s CS2 lineup will be:

• Valerij “b1t” Vakhovsjkyj
• Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen (IGL)
• Justinas “jL” Lekavicius
• Ivan “iM” Mihai
• Ihor “⁠w0nderful⁠” Zhdanov
• Andrij “B1ad3” Ghorodensjkyj (Coach)

Header: BLAST