S1mple is ranked 7th best CS2 player of 2023

Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev had a poor year in 2023 and missed around a quarter of it because of personal reasons, related to fatigue and his overall dissatisfaction with the current state of Counter-Strike 2.

But even in a season in which Natus Vincere did not win a single trophy, s1mple’s performance was still decent. HLTV ranked him as the 7^th best player of the year, ahead of other big names like Nicolai “device” Reedtz (11^th) and Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov (8^th).

S1mple’s results in 2023

S1mple started the season with three consecutive top 4 results at S-tier tournaments:

• IEM Katowice
• ESL Pro League S17
• IEM Rio

In all of these tournaments, Na’Vi finished 3^rd – 4^th, which was not ideal but still good. Then they went to BLAST.tv Paris Major and dropped the ball completely, finishing 9^th – 11^th after a painful defeat against FaZe Clan in the Legends Stage.

This elimination, which came ahead of the Main Event, was a complete shock to most people because Na’Vi were expected to be one of the best teams in the race and had won two of their first three matches.

Following this incident, a radical decision was probably made inside the team. By the end of June, the roster changed dramatically. Three players, including Denis “electroNic” Sharipov and Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy left the team and were replaced with new players.

Some of these players, such as Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, were well-known. Others, such as Ivan “iM” Mihai had just been discovered. For iM, the Paris Major was the peak of his career. He carried his team, GamerLegion, match after match, and ended up finishing 2^nd.

0 CS2 official games, #7 ez
Tbh I would trade places with frozen, he deserves it more
If you are not #1 nothing else matters https://t.co/oW2xO1efYQ

— Sasha (@s1mpleO) January 9, 2024

S1mple’s stats oscillated throughout the season but he was never a weight that had to be carried by others. He consistently played his part well, but not at the level that was expected of him.

When you’ve finished either 2^nd or 1^st at the individual level in the last five years, and are regarded as the best Counter-Strike player of all time, people tend to have high expectations. Doing ok is just not good enough.

S1mple’s ok performances and the massive roster changes caused Na’Vi to essentially have a mediocre season.

What’s next for s1mple

Everyone expects s1mple to return as soon as possible. But it’s not clear at this point when that will happen and in what form. Natus Vincere now have Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov on the active roster, and he’s expected to continue playing. So, in order for s1mple to return to the active roster, Justinas “jL” Lekavicius will probably have to be benched.

Another option would be a loan. Na’Vi don’t have to sell s1mple to a different team. They can just borrow him for 6-12 months and then bring him back. But who could afford such a loan? One team that comes to mind is, of course, Team Falcons.

Header: ESL