Opinion: s1mple in FaZe – Upgrade or Downgrade?

s1mple is undoubtedly a legend of Counter-Strike, and his presence is a major factor for any team, but several questions might hide challenges for FaZe.

Is s1mple objectively a good replacement for broky in FaZe? Will s1mple dominate in CS2 like he did in CS:GO?

FaZe latest transfer

According to the most recent roster change in FaZe, which you’ve likely already heard about at least partly, Latvian pro Helvijs “broky” Saukants has been benched, and his place was taken by Ukrainian AWPer Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev.

Sasha s1mple is known for his mastery of the AWP—his highlights are essential in any list of the best CS moments of all time. He has a unique background as a player who traveled across the ocean at a young age to chase victory, returned as a different player, and led NAVI to become consistent playoff favorites.

Compared to broky, the Ukrainian sniper is objectively a firepower upgrade, but this change isn’t drastically different statistically because s1mple has been on a break and hasn’t played officially for the last three months, so there’s nothing to analyze recently.

Still, it’s worth looking at both players’ profiles and summing them up.

s1mple is a generational talent with a trophy cabinet and HLTV Top 20 record that defines an era. broky, while less dominant individually, has become one of FaZe’s most reliable clutch players and collected major titles in the org’s most successful years. While s1mple’s prime was about rewriting the rules of individual performance, broky thrived in a structured team role, often clutching late rounds and delivering in LAN finals.

So overall, it’s a positive transfer for FaZe. Even though s1mple took a break, a player of that level surely prepared before returning to the professional scene, especially since this was his first long absence, and there's currently a lot of attention and responsibility on him for his reputation.

image: HLTV

s1mple’s possible issues

Oleksandr’s performance clearly dropped after the switch to CS2—that's an issue for many players—and then he left the pro scene, which looked like the end of an era in his career. But considering his reputation, the CS legend wouldn’t return to a game he couldn’t play, so we should expect a better performance than what he showed before the break.

That is, s1mple is coming back because he figured something out about CS2 that we haven’t seen from him yet.

So what kind of problems might FaZe face with s1mple? Probably, team play.

image: FaZe team profile on HLTV

s1mple is an ambitious Counter-Strike star, but that doesn’t mean he can fit into any team environment. Take Falcons, for example: NiKo didn’t click right away, and their only win during his first run with the team was at a tournament without top-tier contenders like Spirit or Vitality. It wasn’t until m0NESY joined that the team started working, because NiKo alone isn’t 100%, but NiKo + m0NESY gets close to 100%. Why? Because they had already played dozens of successful matches together under a previous team tag.

The issue here is that s1mple has zero history with his current lineup. There’s a small chance that his start in the new team will go badly, and from there, a chain reaction could lead to a wave of low-morale matches. The player could then become seen as a fading star, and the hype about it would only increase pressure and tilt, dragging his stats even lower. Again, this is a small chance.

The next unresolved question is whether s1mple really managed to adapt to CS2. I said above that if Oleksandr hadn’t adjusted to the new game, he wouldn’t return to the scene as a player, so it seems like that issue is settled. Seems. So, the real test still lies ahead.

image: s1mple ESL One Cologne 2016. HLTV

So, will s1mple be great again?

Maybe.

No matter how you look at it, switching to the new CS engine, taking his first career break, and joining a new team after a long time, all of these point to a phase of stability, calm, and balanced play for the CS veteran, but not a brilliant old-school dominator.

FaZe, once a dominant team, is still able to show strong and persistent competition. If the “superstar s1mple” factor doesn’t work out, it won’t reflect badly on the others, the team will still make playoffs and fight. So, in the worst-case scenario, FaZe stays a stable contender for the world’s top 7.

At this stage, s1mple has to use all of his experience and find synergy with his teammates. I expect to see not just a highlight-hunting AWPer, but a universal and consistent top-level player.