s1mple promised to grind CS2 after not qualifying for the Shanghai Major.
Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyljev has not qualified for the Perfect World Shanghai CS2 Major, but he won't rest until he wins another Valve-sponsored tournament.
The Ukrainian AWPer took to X after he and Falcons lost to GamerLegion at the Europe RMR A, ending their chances of qualifying for the Chinese Major.
"Don’t worry I will be back stronger, even if I gonna be on bench, I will practice until I lose my pulse to win the Major," s1mple wrote on X after Falcons lost to GamerLegion. The best CS:GO player ever also said that Valve should add Train and remove Vertigo as soon as possible.
This is the second CS2 Major that s1mple missed out on as he was inactive when the PGL Copenhagen Major took place earlier this year. He didn't get the chance to get back to Natus Vincere's lineup as the team is doing well without him and lifted numerous trophies, including the Copenhagen Major this year.
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s1mple knows he needs to play better
Although Falcons were already struggling before s1mple replaced Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia, he certainly didn't make them any better.
Falcons have played a total of 13 maps with s1mple between the Perfect World Shanghai Major Europe RMR, Thunderpick World Championship, and ESL Challenger Katowice, and only won two — one in the series against GamerLegion and one against Dynamo Eclot, a tier-two team.
The Ukrainian AWPer has averaged a 1.06 rating after these 13 maps, according to HLTV.org, which is far behind his glory days with NAVI. He played significantly worse at the Europe RMR, averaging only a 0.99 rating, according to HLTV.org. A Redditor also found out that the Europe RMR was s1mple's first negative LAN event since 2017.
For comparison, the best CS2 players in the world in 2024 are averaging around 1.30 rating. Data from HLTV.org shows that G2's AWPer Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov is sitting on a 1.28 rating against top 30 opponents this year, while Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut and Danil "donk" Kryshkovets are averaging a 1.34 and 1.35 rating, respectively.
It will most likely take some months before s1mple feels fully comfortable in CS2 as the game is noticeably different than CS:GO. Players run and gun way more often and a lot of AWPers struggle to hold angles because of how Peeker's Advantage works in CS2.
Now that Falcons don't have any more games scheduled for 2024, we'll see how the Saudi-backed organization will rebuild their roster and if they will sign s1mple permanently for 2025. Falcons are reportedly signing Nikola "NiKo" Kovač next season, which would bolster their firepower a lot.
