"Sometimes I'm curious about how I'd perform in an international team". S1mple about key to success in FPS, being with NAVI "till the end", and his ex
NAVI superstar Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev did a spontaneous fan-interaction session on his Telegram after EU RMR A was over. He praised his ex-girlfriend and revealed details about her impact on his life and career, criticized Virtus.pro for the way they treated KaiR0N- at BLAST Paris RMR, started and ended a beef with OverDrive, and even answered if he'd ever change an org.
About Kair0N-'s swap mid-tournament at Paris RMR
Outsiders management is acting like a piece of crap. Swap the player at 1-2, get a replacement, buy the player [n0rb3r7] a ticket and still f**k up. First, they came up with the visa excuse, and then they said that the guy was kinda nervous.
Yesterday, KaiR0N- met Amiran [NAVI Head of Esports] and me. I asked, "Were you nervous or anything?" He replied, "No, that was the team's decision. What else can I do?" So I though, "Such a great team you have, such nice characters".
You shouldn't sign a contract with Outsiders for more than one year. Otherwise, this organization will devour you. They have achieved nothing in the last five years. The org got into CS:GO only thanks to the Polish roster. This attitude towards the players is unacceptable. How can you sign a deal with Satan? <...> The nationality of KaiR0N- is not important, and and it's not about how Outsiders treat our organization. After we spoke to him, I thought, "This guy is actually capable of something, and they treat him like this." I can't recall such bullshit happening in the history of CS:GO, throughout 19 Majors. Well-deserved f**k up for the organization that doesn't give a shit.
Your mind is what wins you games in shooters
I listen to English and Russian-speaking analysts and casters, and I came to the conclusion that they do not understand how Counter-Strike works at all. I've been playing for ten years, and they did the same for twenty years or studied the game, and they still don't know how FPS games work. There are CS, Valorant, and Warzone, and for me, they are more or less the same thing. Not shooting-wise, as the game mechanics are always different, but understanding how a person thinks and makes a decision is fundamental to me. When you can outplay your opponent using your mind, this is the key to success of any FPS game. This is one of the tips to remember for the rest of your life: in any game, no matter which one, everything is decided by your brain.
A former girlfriend helped s1mple to come back from 0:2 score and qualify for the Major
I never spoke about my personal life, but there are people who have changed my life. They completely changed my approach to esports and more general things. One of these girls is Arina Berdnikova [streamer AhriNyan]. No matter how she behaves on streams, no matter what she says, you can't even imagine what kind of person she is in life. How decent, loyal and just an amazing girl she is. She completely changed my life and set me on the right path. No matter what happened between us in the past, she is the person to whom I feel infinitely grateful.
<...> Once, we played in StarLadder RMR, from the lower bracket got to the grand final against Gambit, who is now Cloud9. We were one map behind because we came from the lower bracket, and then we lost on Ancient, so the score became 0:2.
Back then, I lived at Arina's place in Moscow. I get out, angry at the result, and I just remember her words. She said to me, "So what? What happened? Come on, pull yourself together, cheer your team up, and you will win." No one has ever won from 0:2, and we beat Gambit 3:2. We won those qualifiers and went straight to the Major.
I understand how much her support then affected me. I was very angry, and she explained everything so easily that I thought: "Damn, you are actually so right."
S1mple was dating Arina for a long time, until August of 2022, with a few break-ups during this period. At some point, the pair lived and streamed together.
Will he ever leave NAVI?
I don't know, I want to be with them till the end. But sometimes, I'm curious about how I would perform in an international team. That's quite a different experience.
On Boombl4's kick
My reaction was obvious, just like the rest of the team, and reasonable. We knew that Kirill f**ked up.
How did you become less toxic, and who helped with it
I don't remember. But I know that I worked really hard in that direction, and it affected all my actions.
