s1mple Loaned To Team Falcons Replacing BOROS

The greatest Counter-Strike player of all time, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev, has returned to the professional scene after a four-month break since the release of CS2. The biggest surprise is he won’t be wearing his dream organization’s jersey and will join Team Falcons.

BOROS Off The Team

The Saudi-backed organization decided to bench rifler Mohammad “BOROS” Malhas after an underwhelming performance since the roster’s massive overhaul.

The community had extremely high expectations for Team Falcons as the players are rumored to be paid 40,000 USD in monthly salaries, making the team one of the most expensive, if not the most expensive, Counter-Strike teams in the world.

Due to subpar performances, BOROS has been removed from the active lineup.

Official Statement Regarding our Counter-Strike 2 Team: pic.twitter.com/iP5fnrbAhS

— Falcons Esports (@FalconsEsport) February 19, 2024

During his run with the Falcons roster, BOROS was given the role of star rifler. Though the 19-year-old had already proven his potential in his previous team, Monte, BOROS heavily underperformed and lost the long-term trust of the other members of the team.

Team Falcons finished fourth place at IEM Katowice 2024, a respectable run for their first S-Tier LAN together. Still, their failure to qualify for the PGL Copenhagen Major was the biggest disappointment. In Group A of the European RMR, Team Falcons lost a Best-of-3 series to AMKAL and got eliminated with a 1-3 record.

The GOAT Re-enters

Though the community had predicted that BOROS would get the short end of the stick, almost nobody would expect that s1mple would be the replacement, considering the Team Falcons core would never replace their AWPer Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia. 

HERE WE GOOO!!! 🦅

Please welcome @s1mpleO, who will be making his return to professional Counter-Strike as part of Falcons for one month on loan from team @natusvincere! pic.twitter.com/mglPzyQBxn

— Team Falcons (@TeamFalconsGG) February 19, 2024

Even Natus Vincere player and s1mple’s former teammate Justinas “jL” Lekavicius revealed on ohnePixel’s stream that he had not heard a single word about the transfer until everyone else found out.

Still, s1mple is only being loaned to Team Falcons for a month, where he would play with the team for the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown. Whether he’ll continue wearing the Falcons jersey is still in question. We’ll likely have to see their results.

Another exciting thing about this move is that s1mple would be transitioning to the rifler role, letting SunPayus continue to wield the AWP for Team Falcons. One of the main reasons for the star player’s break from professional play was the nerf to the AWP, making the sniper rifle less impactful. Though known for his flicks and precision, the GOAT of Counter-Strike can still find massive impact with an AK-47.

The Team Falcons roster only made one player change and will feature the following team at the next event on the 6th of March:

• Marco “⁠Snappi⁠” Pfeiffer
• Emil “⁠Magisk⁠” Reif
• Pavle “⁠Maden⁠” Bošković
• Spain Álvaro “⁠SunPayus⁠” García
• Oleksandr “⁠s1mple⁠” Kostyliev (stand-in)

Kostyliev had mentioned that Natus Vincere had been his dream organization since the beginning of his career. Playing in Team Falcons will be the first time he will not be repping a Na’Vi jersey in eight years.