“The Counterpart to Ronaldo” – One of Counter-Strike’s best players is back, but for a much worse team

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The e-athlete s1mple had legendary status in CS:GO. Now he is ending his break to prove his skills in CS2.

Who is it about? Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev is considered one of the best CS:GO players of all time. The 26-year-old Ukrainian played for HellRaisers, FlipSid3 Tactics and Team Liquid in his career. However, s1mple reached his career peak at Natus Vincere (NaVi).

  • s1mple played for NaVi from 2016 to 2023 and won some highly prized tournaments during this time, including the IEM Cologne in July 2021 and the Intel Grand Slam in September of the same year.
  • For his performances in the various competitions, he was named Best Player of the Year in 2018, 2021 and 2022 and was also a title contender in 2019 and 2020.
  • On October 26, 2023, s1mple announced that he was taking a break from Counter-Strike because he needed to get some documents in order and take care of people in his life (via X.com).
  • Since the release of CS2, fans of the Ukrainian have been waiting for him to be able to show his skills in the current offshoot of the shooter and celebrate his return.

    • Now s1mple is returning, at least temporarily, as an active player, but not for the team with which he celebrated so much success.

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    Which team does s1mple play for now? S1mple is still under contract for NaVi, but will play on loan for the Falcons team for the next three months (via navi.gg). During s1mple’s loan, the qualification for the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 will also take place, in which s1mple will take part for the Falcons.

    The move to Team Falcons is a noticeable sporting decline for s1mple, because while NaVi finished the last IEM Cologne in August 2024 in second place, Team Falcons only managed places 9-12.

    On Team Falcons, s1mple will play alongside Snappi, Magisk, maden and dupreeh. The team’s current coach is Zonic.

    s1mple’s move reminds fans of Cristiano Ronaldo

    What does this have to do with Ronaldo? S1mple’s temporary move to Team Falcons reminds some fans on Reddit of professional footballer Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent move.

    Ronaldo has been playing for the Saudi Arabian team Al-Nassr since 2023, where there is little chance of sporting success for the multiple world footballer – at least by international standards. One user wrote on Reddit: “This is the CS equivalent of Ronaldo going to Saudi Arabia.”

    The e-sports organization Team Falcons also has its origins in Saudi Arabia, which reinforces the comparison. On the other hand, some users note that s1mple still has to compete against the best players in the team. Things look different for Ronaldo.

    During his hiatus, s1mple offered a course designed to improve players in Counter-Strike. But the project was not well received and the Ukrainian was accused of rip-off: Counter-Strike 2: Retired shooter god offers course for €137 – But he is accused of rip-off

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