The war between Russia and Ukraine is affecting the Ukrainian top player s1mple. The Ukrainian is considered the world’s best player in the Steam hit Counterstrike-Global Offensive. But now there are problems within his team Natus Vincere. Now the e-sportsman is considering a break.
Who is s1mple? Oleksandr “s1mple” Olehovych Kostyliev (24) is considered a shooter icon in esports. The Ukrainian professional gamer is often referred to as the best CS:GO player in the world and has held the position of AWPer in Team Natus Vincere since 2016. In addition to his successful career as an e-sportsman, he also streams on Twitch.
Even if his team recently won the big tournament “BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022”, the professional player is in a crisis.
The war in his home country Ukraine burdens the professional player. In February, s1mple published an appeal for peace to Russia on Twitter.
The aftermath of the war between Russia and Ukraine has created problems within Natus Vincere. s1mple says: “When the war started, we were mentally destroyed” (via hltv.org).
Sisters Stream on Twitch from Ukraine – Interrupted by Bombs
Russians and Ukrainians successfully play together in CS:GO at Team NAVI
Who is behind Team Natus Vincere? Team Natus Vincere (lat. Born to win), short Team NAVI, is a Ukrainian professional esports team in the CS:GO sphere.
Active players include:
The team consists of half Ukrainian and half Russian players.
Team kicks out Russian captain
This player from NAVI came into focus: Russian pro player Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov has been the In-Game Leader (IGL) for NAVI since 2019 and has been extremely successful in that role. He earned over $1 million in prize money at Natus Vincere.
However, the turning point in his career came in May 2022. He was dropped from the squad as an active member of NAVI. The reason for his dismissal was, among other things, his place of residence in Russia and the statements of his then wife, who had supported the war in Russia on Instagram.
At the time, s1mple expressed its regret about the departure of Boombl4 and emphasized its importance for the success of the team:
Shortly after NAVI’s dismissal, Boombl4 and his wife Anzhelika Ezieva divorced. He had proposed to her on the big stage in November 2021 after winning a tournament.
After the separation was announced, his now ex-wife published pictures and videos of the professional player: She published a video in which Boombl4 is said to be using drugs.
Electronic currently replaces Boombl4 as IGL for NAVI.
– Putin attacks Ukraine (via spiegel-online)
– War in Ukraine: Russian troops take over Chernobyl, Great Britain decides on extensive sanctions against Russia (via nzz)
– Voting in the Russian crisis (via foreign office)
Top player s1mple is mentally exhausted: “We just lost to ourselves”
This is the situation for s1mple: At the IEM Katowice tournament, NAVI reached the semifinals, but then lost to G2. In the Major Finals in Antwerp, the team was defeated again, this time by FaZe Clan.
“We just lost to ourselves.” With these words, s1mple explains the low blows of the team in a conversation with HLTV (via hltv).
In addition to the Ukraine war and the turmoil within the team, s1mple currently has no permanent place of residence, which wears him down even more. Now the e-sportsman is toying with the idea of taking a break for several months and settling down in peace. Spain or Portugal are on the shortlist.
What’s next for Team Natus Vincere?
It remains uncertain whether s1mple is truly on hiatus and what the future holds for Team NAVI. After the defeats at IEM Katowice and Antwerp, things now seem to be on the up with the BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022. Here NAVI was able to successfully assert itself against the competition and take home the victory.
A success that might give the team some hope again in such difficult and stressful times:
Here you can find a more detailed article about the expulsion of the former in-game leader Boombl4.