Considered one of the best players in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Oleksandr Olehovych Kostyliev, better known as S1mple, is a prodigy in this FPS game. Born on 2 October 1997, S1mple is a Ukrainian player playing for Natus Vincere (Na’Vi) as Awper.
He has also played for several other teams like Liquid, FlipSid3, and HellRaisers and won significant tournaments and MVP titles. He is sometimes referred to as ‘Sasha’- a shortened version of Alexander in Russian-speaking countries. He has donated $100,000 to UNITED24, a charity for the aid of Ukraine during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine in 2022.
As of now, he has earned approximately $1,713,686 from esports. He also gets a salary of $30k-$50k from Na’Vi. His other income sources include brand deals, advertisements, endorsements, Twitch streaming, and more.
Pro setup info:
Players can bring their peripherals in significant tournaments, like a keyboard and mouse. S1mple uses Logitech G USB PRO X Superlight Wireless Gaming Mouse and Logitech G915 TKL White keyboard in most matches.
Here is the link to the Logitech G USB PRO X Superlight Wireless Gaming Mouse:
Table of contents: All you need to know about S1mple
How it all started – S1mple
Oleksandr Kostyliev, famously known as S1mple, was born on 2 October 1997 in Kyiv City, Ukraine. He started playing Counter-Strike when he was four years old. He picked up Counter Strike: Global Offensive when it was released in 2012 and started his journey as a professional player in LAN DODGERS. But soon, Courage Gaming signed him.
Around 2014, a well-known organization named Hellraisers signed S1mple, and he got to play with his idols- ANGE1, Dosia, Kucher, and Markeloff. In early 2015, he was removed from the roster due to inflammatory comments about Germans and the ESL wire ban for cheating.
He stated that it was a ban on cheating in Counter-Strike 1.6. Nonetheless, records show that it was an in-game ban when he played CS: GO. The ban was extended due to ban evasion. Flipsid3 Tactics soon picked him up, but his career in Flipsid3 Tactics remained short due to his semifinal exit in ESWC 2015.
S1mple has made a wrong impression of being ‘toxic’ and rude to his teammates during this career period. After that, he moved to Los Angeles and joined Team Liquid. He made friends with his former Flipsid3 teammate Spencer “Hiko” Martin. With Team Liquid, he has reached the first major semifinal in MLG Major Championship: Columbus.
He was also one of the players of Team Liquid that reached to final of ESL One Cologne 2016, and Team Liquid became the first North American team to get to a major final. After that, he replaced a legendary in-game leader, Danylo ‘Zeus’ Teslenko, in Natus Vincere.
How is it going for S1mple?
Natus Vincere(Na’Vi) signed S1mple in August 2016 and retained him, though the team has undergone multiple roster changes since his joining. After joining Natus Vincere, he won ESL One: New York 2016 and was #4 on HLTV’s top 20 list.
In ELEAGUE Major 2017, Na’Vi lost to Astralis in the quarterfinal, and Na’Vi faced an early exit in the PGL 2017 Krakow Major Championship group stage. After this tournament, Zeus was recalled to the team, and Guardian, seized, was benched. As Guardian was an Awper, S1mple was forced to take the Awper role.
Though the team management has made several changes to the roster, Na’Vi struggled in the tournaments, and S1mple’s results remained strong. He was #8 on HLTV’s top 20 list in 2017. The following year, Na’Vi reached the semifinal in ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018.
Due to outstanding performance, the Brazilian organization MBR Wanted to sign S1mple, but the deal got canceled due to the high buyout price. In 2018 Na’Vi won several tournaments, such like:
- The Star series & I League season 5
- CAC 2018
- ESL One Cologne 2018
- BLAST Pro Series: Copenhagen 2018
Simple has won several MVP titles in these tournaments.
S1mple’s tremendous performance gained him the #1 spot on the HLTVtop 20 list. With mind-boggling stats, fans and Pundits have considered him one of the best players of CS: GO. In 2019 Na’Vi secured 3rd, and 4th place in the major, and S1mple received MVP at Star series season 7.
In 2021, after going undefeated in Stockholm major league stage, Na’Vi continued their form, winning the major and being the first team to win every map in the tournament. Because of S1mple’s performance through the major, he was the tournament MVP and named best sports player at the game awards.
Na’Vi has also won:
- Blast Premier: Fall Finals 2021
- Blast Premier: World Final 2021
- Blast Premier: Spring Finals 2022
2nd place in:
- PGL Major Antwerp 2022
- IEM Cologne 2022
S1mple has earned approximately $1,713,686 from esports. Na’Vi has been one of the top teams in the tournaments, and he has received MVP in several tournaments.
He has earned huge prize money from these tournaments. He also gets a salary of $30k-$50k from Na’Vi. His other income sources are brand deals, advertisements, endorsements, Twitch streaming, and more. Na’Vi has extended S1mple’s contract till 2025.
What made S1mple a top player?
Clutches, individual skills, and in-game understanding make a player outstanding. S1mple’s entry to the CS: GO circuit was impactful due to his individual skills and performances. He has played for several teams. In the early days of S1mple’s career, he struggled a lot. HellRaisers has banned him due to his inflammatory comments and cheating in the game.
He had a bad reputation for being rude toward his teammates. He has hopped several teams within a short duration. But after shifting to the United States, he joined Team Liquid and befriended Hiko. At ESL One Cologne 2016, while playing against Fanatic in the semifinal, S1mple, with superhuman reflexes, eliminated two opponents with the iconic double No-Scope shot.
With the heroics of S1mple, Team Liquid made an upset and proceeded to the final by defeating one of the best teams of CS: GO, Fanatic. Even in the tournament, S1mple threw his AWP over a wall to use as a distraction and took down the last member of the opponent.
These extraordinary moments have announced the arrival of a superstar globally. Valve has immortalized the ‘Double No-Scope’ by creating usable graffiti in the game. After joining the Na’Vi, Na’Vi has struggled a lot due to roster changes, but the individual skills of S1mple were exceptional.
He single-handedly carried Na’Vi in a few tournaments with Awp-ing skills. After the struggle in 2017, Na’Vi overcame the failure and became a consistent team in the CS: GO. S1mple’s gun skills, with game knowledge and improvisation, provide an in-game advantage over opponents.
His contributions have influenced the performance graph of Na’Vi. Na’Vi has won:
- ESL One: New York 2016
- StarSeries & I-League CS: GO Season 5
- StarSeries & I-League CS: GO Season 7,
- IEM XIV – World Championship
- BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020
- IEM XVI – Cologne
- ESL Pro League Season 14
- PGL Major Stockholm 2021
- BLAST Premier: World Final 2021
- BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2022
He has also won MVP in most of the tournaments. He is the record holder of Most HLTV MVP awards with 21 MVP titles, Most HLTV MVP awards in a calendar year (8 times), Most aces at a “Big event,” and Most clutches won at a “Big event,” and others.
He has also won the following:
- Esports Awards, PC Player of the Year in 2018
- Esports, PC Player of the Year in 2021
- The Game Awards, Best Esports Player in 2021.
In 2022, S1mple won the CS: GO Player of the Decade award. According to the interview of S1mple at the award ceremony, He said that he would work harder as there is no limit to perfection.
What gears does S1mple use?
If someone wants to dive into the deeps of the esports scene and build a career based on esports, besides skills, the person needs to have a quality set of setups to maximize the potential. Here is a small list of gears that S1mple uses.
1. Logitech G USB PRO X Superlight Wireless Gaming Mouse:
2. Logitech G Pro X Gaming Wired Over Ear Headphones:
3. Logitech G915 TKL Keyboard
4. BenQ Zowie Xl2546K Monitor:
5. Logitech G440 Hard Gaming Mouse Pad:
6. AndaSeat NAVI Edition Yellow Chair
7. PC Specification:
a. AMD Ryzen 9 5950X Processor:
b. GIGABYTE X570 AORUS Ultra Motherboard
c. NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 Graphics card:
What more People also want to know about S1mple?
Q: What team was S1mple playing for before he joined Na’Vi?
A: He played under the banner of Team Liquid before joining Na’Vi.
Q: What is the role of S1mple in CS: GO?
A: S1mple is a professional CS: GO player who plays for Na’Vi as Awper.
Q: Does simple still play for Na’Vi?
A: Yes. He has been in Na’Vi since 2016. Na’Vi has extended his contract till 2025.
Q: Why is S1mple called ‘Goat’?
A: Due to S1mple’s jaw-dropping skills and achievements in CS: GO, CS: GO community considers him GOAT (Greatest Of All Time).
Conclusion
S1mple had achieved everything except winning a Major until PGL Stockholm 2021. He was called a king without a crown due to having no major trophy. But, after sweeping G2 PGL Stockholm 2021 final, his goal has been achieved. Previously, S1mple also announced that he would take a break from the competitive scene for a few months.
He also streams Valorant gameplay on Twitch. However, he is still an Awper in CS: GO NA’Vi till 2025. We may spectate the king’s arrival on the Valorant competitive scene soon.
