On June 20, 2022, at the BLAST Premier: Spring Finals tournament, the world saw a new record by s1mple (Simple). On this day, Alexander Kostylev, who plays as a sniper in the Navi team and is known in the eSports community under the nickname s1mple, received the prize as the most valuable player (MVP) of the Blast tournament. The achievement was Simple's 20th in a row, and this is an absolute record for the number of MVPs in the entire history of Counter Strike. The previous record holder, the legendary Nikolai Ridtz, who played under the nickname device for the no less legendary team Astralis, had only 19 such titles.
Usually the MVP prize is awarded to a player who, within a particular tournament, simultaneously:
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Won this competition with your team, or at least played in the final.
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Achieved the best statistical indicators during the tournament, for example, the highest kill/death ratio, scored the most aces. By the way, read below about Simple’s record for aces in 1 tournament.
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Played effectively and beautifully, for example, for a sniper it’s cool to kill an enemy with a nosescope (without an optical sight), a flipshot, i.e. from a turn to 90 or 180 degrees, or make 2 frags with 1 shot.
Simpl's achievement in the number of MVPs for 1 season
2022 is generally not rich in new records for Simple in CS GO. Apparently, the well-known events in Ukraine are affecting us all. NAVI players have to resolve issues with moving to Europe, where they can train without fear for their health and life, as well as the safety of their loved ones. I believe that Simple is now not up to new super results, and the level of play shown at Blast is largely experience and the old accumulated baggage of chips and gaming strategies.
But last year 2021 was fruitful for Simple records. In particular, he surpassed the achievement of device (Nikolai Ridtz) in the number of Most Valuable Player titles in 1 calendar year. During the era of Astralis dominance in 2018, Device was awarded 7 MVP titles, while Simple managed to beat Device in 2021 and receive 8 Most Valuable Player titles.
Ace record
In July 2021, at the IEM Cologne 2021 tournament, a bomb new Simple record in CS GO was set – 4 aces in 1 tournament. For those who don't know, ace – This is when 1 player single-handedly kills the entire enemy team, i.e. makes 5 frags in 1 round.
The word “bombastic” was chosen to describe Alexander Kostylev’s achievement, and this is not without reason, because other epithets simply do not suit him. Make 1-2 aces during the tournament – an extremely difficult task for professionals, as can be seen by studying the player statistics on hltv.org. For example, the same Simple performed in 175 official tournaments, during which he made 63 aces. On average, this is 0.36 aces per 1 competition.
Now imagine that the average of 0.36 aces improves 11 times and turns into 4 aces per tournament. Isn't Simple's record a bomb after this?
Simple – twice the best player in the world in 2018 and 2021
Perhaps some of you will say that this is not Simple's record, there were other players who were twice recognized as the best in the world. And you'll be right, there were such gamers:
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ZywOo (Mathieu Herbault) – best in 2019 and 2020
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coldzera (Marcelo David) – triumphant in 2016 and 2017
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GeT_RiGhT (Christopher Allesund) – top 1 player in 2013 and 2014
If you noticed, ZywOo, coldzera, and GeT_RiGhT dominated the CS GO arena for 2 years in a row, and the uniqueness of Simple’s record is that he became the best kaeser in the world for the second time only after a 2-year break.
CS GO – This is a very tough eSports discipline that requires quick reactions, instantaneous decision-making and extreme concentration. They get worse with age. Gamers over 24 years old, due to physiological reasons, can no longer withstand the pressure of young guys, compete on an equal basis with them, and fall out of the CS GO elite. There are about 30 top players or over 30 years in CS GO – units.
Counter Strike stars are somewhat similar to supernovae: they flare up quickly and burn out just as quickly. Therefore, the record of Simple, who was able to repeat his achievement and after 2 years again become the best in the world, evokes sincere admiration.
Number 1 in terms of kills/deaths ratio
Kostylev, as one of the best professional kaesers, certainly has positive statistics on the difference between kills and deaths. However, Simple's new record in CS GO convincingly shows how superior he is to other top players in this indicator.
Simpl's frags exceed the number of deaths by 6451, a result he achieved in just 1200 cards. The closest competitor s1mple – sniper under the nickname kennyS (Kenny Shrub) – a positive difference of 6323 kills, but on 1727 maps.
Simple's record is certainly impressive, as he needed 527 fewer cards than kennyS to exceed Kenny Schrub's Kill/Death Difference.
If we take the top player coldzera, who played a number of cards comparable to Simple (1213 cards), then coldzera has the difference between kills and deaths – 5609, i.e. 842 less than Simple. So the harsh statistics categorically state: Simple rules!
Achievement for megahighlight and graffiti
What we are talking about now, of course, is not Simple’s new record in CS GO, since it happened 6 years ago at the ESL One Cologne competition in 2016
In the semi-finals of this tournament, where Fnatic and Team Liquid faced each other (Kostylev then played for Liquid), Simple achieved an incredible clutch against 2 opponents on the Cache map in an attempt to make a retake of the B site (defuse a bomb planted by terrorists at point B). He killed one of the opponents in flight with a sniper rifle without zoom, and then without delay the second one – and also without an optical sight.
This episode so amazed the esports world that the developer of the Cache map decided to perpetuate Simple's amazing record and painted graffiti in the form of a flying man with wings holding an AWP on the "nine" in the B site area. Exactly where Simple made his legendary jump.
To this day, gamers playing as special forces and defending point B on Cache can see this graffiti and draw inspiration for the game from the example of Simple.
By the way, Simple’s record amazed not only the eSports crowd, but also its author. Kostylev got himself a tattoo, which exactly copies graffiti, on his left shoulder.
