How Counter-Strike’s Greatest Player Lost His Crown

NAVI won another Major. The best player in the world wasn't lifting the trophy. Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev is the Counter-Strike player three-time HLTV player of the year, a Major champion at PGL Stockholm 2021 and the AWPer who made impossible shots look routine. Then NAVI moved on without him. This is the full story: the kid from Kyiv, the fights and the doubts, the shot in Cologne, the golden NAVI team, the war that hit the team, the inactive list, the Falcons and FaZe loans, and the way back. CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open 00:35 The summit 04:46 A talent nobody could ignore 08:15 An ocean away 12:02 The weight of the jersey 15:55 The best player, the strongest team 19:20 The man on the other side 23:05 Building the championship team 27:00 The crown in Stockholm 31:08 A world beyond the server 35:28 The world changes 39:29 The game continues without him 44:55 A way back 49:27 What remains SOURCES [01] HLTV, NAVI win PGL Major Stockholm over G2, undefeated, 7 Nov 2021. https://www.hltv.org/news/32761/navi-... [02] HLTV, Top 20 players of 2018: s1mple (1). https://www.hltv.org/news/25880/top-2... [03] HLTV, Top 20 players of 2021: s1mple (1). https://www.hltv.org/news/33151/top-2... [04] HLTV, Top 20 players of 2022: s1mple (1). https://www.hltv.org/news/35380/top-2... [05] HLTV, s1mple: I'm sorry for my actions, 15 Jan 2015. https://www.hltv.org/news/13974/s1mpl... [06] HLTV, Official: HellRaisers add s1mple, 18 Sep 2014. https://www.hltv.org/news/13239/offic... [07] HLTV, s1mple replaces Zeus in NAVI, 4 Aug 2016. https://www.hltv.org/news/18359/s1mpl... [08] NAVI, s1mple moved to the inactive roster, 26 Oct 2023. https://navi.gg/en/publications/s1mpl... [09] NAVI, roster changes, 31 Oct 2023. https://navi.gg/en/publications/cs-na... [10] HLTV, NAVI beat FaZe to win PGL Major Copenhagen, 31 Mar 2024. https://www.hltv.org/news/38666/navi-... [11] HLTV, s1mple: I feel my power, but it's still not enough, Oct 2024. https://www.hltv.org/news/40137/s1mpl... [12] HLTV, s1mple powers FaZe into Major playoffs over The MongolZ, 2025. https://www.hltv.org/news/41971/s1mpl... [13] Pley.gg, s1mple on the war and the team, BLAST Premier World Final, 13 Dec 2022. https://pley.gg/s1mple-still-believe-... [14] Dust2.us, BC.Game at Elisa Esports Breakout Series, 2026. https://www.dust2.us/news/76435/new-b... FOOTAGE Match footage and interview clips are quoted for commentary and criticism, with the source named on screen: PGL, ESL Counter-Strike, ESL Archives, BLAST Premier, HLTV, NAVI, FaZe Esports, Major League Gaming, FACEIT, DreamHack, StarLadder, Team Vitality and others. All rights belong to their owners. PHOTOS Esports Kingdom (CC BY 2.0), SteelSeries (CC BY 2.0), VaKarM (CC BY 3.0), amitbronstein (CC BY 2.0), European Parliament (CC BY 2.0), Paul Chaloner (CC BY 2.0), ajay_suresh (CC BY 4.0), Tmv23 and Xeo (CC BY-SA 3.0), all via Wikimedia Commons. Counter-Strike, CS:GO and CS2 are trademarks of Valve Corporation. This video is not affiliated with or endorsed by Valve, NAVI, FaZe, HLTV, PGL, ESL, BLAST or any other organization shown. If something in this video is wrong, tell us in the comments and we will correct it and pin the correction. #CounterStrike #s1mple #CS2