It's happened! The GOAT of Counter-Strike, Ukrainian AWPer Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev, has returned to competitive Counter-strike, but not with NAVI. While s1mple is technically still in NAVI, he is on loan and will compete for the next three months on Team Falcons' active roster.

s1mple replaces Spanish AWPer, Álvaro "⁠SunPayus⁠" García, who is currently sitting on the bench after the squad had a lackluster performance at BLAST Fall Final 2024.

Speaking to his followers on social media, s1mple explained: "Time to be back at LAN; that’s was my goal from the very beginning - to play the Shanghai Major! I’m very glad that we will have official games before we fix the mistakes and play the main tournament of this year!"

• Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer
• Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen
• Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif
• Pavle "⁠Maden⁠" Bošković
• Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev (loan)
• Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen (coach)

It will be VERY interesting to see how s1mple does on Team Falcons. They are, of course, qualified for the Perfect World Shanghai Major European RMR, and s1mple wants to qualify to play on the biggest stage shortly after his return. Keep in mind that s1mple has not played in an esports tournament since October 2023, a full year, due to the Russia/Ukraine conflict.

Header image via Team Falcons.