S1mple is not with NaVi in IEM Sydney 2023

IEM Sydney 2023 is in full swing, and just hours before the first tournament in the CS2 era kicked off, NaVi announced that Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev would not be with the team in the tournament.

According to the Ukrainian organization, the hedge is due to the player’s problems with his European residency papers. However, everything points to the CS:GO GO GOAT missing the tournament because he is not happy with the current state of CS2.

Much has been said in recent days about CS2 not yet being ready for competitive play. In addition, new bugs are coming to light every day, which are undoubtedly really frustrating, especially for professionals. However, this is not new, as the competitive Counter-Strike scene experienced something similar and even worse at CS:GO’s launch.

Likewise, Valve is taking matters into its own hands by releasing daily updates to fix all issues and get the game up to an optimal level as quickly as possible.

NaVi announced that s1mple is not playing IEM Sydney

Through a statement on their official blog, NaVi announced a few hours before the start of IEM Sydney that s1mple did not travel with the team to play the tournament. In addition, they announced that Andrij “B1ad3” Ghorodensjkyj, NaVi’s Head Coach, would replace the CS:GO GO GOAT in the lineup.

We will play the next tournament with a change in our roster.

📰 https://t.co/7WZdSw4pyg#CS2 #navination pic.twitter.com/OJN0jH8V6A

— NAVI (@natusvincere) October 15, 2023

NaVi indeed makes no mention of the reasons why s1mple did not travel to Australia for IEM Sydney. However, reports from Dexerto, specifically from Luís Mira, refer to it all because s1mple’s EU residency papers are not yet ready. As a result, if the Ukrainian travels to Australia, it is unknown whether he can return to Europe.

According to sources, the reason s1mple isn’t attending IEM Sydney with NAVI is that his EU residency papers are not yet ready. If he traveled to Sydney, there was a chance he would not be able to get back to the EU.

B1ad3 is replacing s1mple at the Australian event. pic.twitter.com/1l0QnhgQC8

— Luis Mira (@luismmira) October 15, 2023

On the other hand, B1ad3 is by no means new to the competitive Counter-Strike scene. However, it has been several years without being present in any official tournament, so the low of s1mple is undoubtedly a blow to the aspirations of NaVi in the tournament.

Likewise, it is also fair to remember that s1mple is not happy with the current state of CS2, so this may also have influenced his decision not to travel to Australia. In one of his last statements, he shared a post referencing not “playing that shitty game.”

NaVi debuts with victory without s1mple at IEM Sydney

Expectations were high regarding NaVi’s debut without s1mple at IEM Sydney 2023. However, the team delivered and took a solid 13-9 win over Apeks.

Now, the team will play a tough match against MOUZ in the semifinals of the Upper Bracket of Group A, thus playing for a place in the Final and, of course, to be closer to advancing to the playoffs.

On the other hand, we also have to point out that B1ade’s level in this match against Apeks was not entirely good. The Ukrainian scored 4-16 on the map (Mirage), with 43.3 ADR and 0.44 Rating.

How do you do, fellow young CS players? pic.twitter.com/FeHs3bpEdc

— NAVI (@natusvincere) October 15, 2023

If NaVi wants to stay in the Upper Bracket and beat MOUZ in the next few hours, B1ad3 must contribute more to the team. Likewise, this is nothing more than a confirmation that NaVi badly needs s1mple in their squad.

Header: Stefan Petrescu | PGL