Natus Vincere's captain, Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen, shared his thoughts on Alexander "s1mple" Kostylev's departure from the team. In a conversation with analyst Duncan "Thorin" Shields, he mentioned that even before joining NAVI, he jokingly discussed the possibility of s1mple taking a break.
"When I decided to join NAVI, I told my friends that it could become a reality. They were thrilled. One of them jokingly said, 'You know, after winning the Major, s1mple might take a break. Imagine, after everything you've been through in your career, you come to NAVI, and he goes on vacation.' We all laughed at the time, but when it happened, my phone exploded with laughing emojis. It was a joke, but that's how it turned out.
When you lose a player of his caliber... When you think of NAVI, you think of s1mple. And it happened. I laughed, of course, but... That's all in the past now. I'm glad we managed to succeed. I'm glad w0nderful was able to replace s1mple, despite his lack of experience."
Virolainen stated that he was prepared for s1mple to take a break, but acknowledged that it was a significant loss for the team.
"I understood that s1mple was probably extremely tired, considering his situation of living in another country. Even before I joined NAVI and started thinking about s1mple's condition, you could feel that... He had been playing for so long... I knew he was a hard worker: he was constantly streaming — even after losses at tournaments. It felt like he was exhausted. So his departure wasn't a big surprise for me. But losing a player of his caliber... Like it was in my other teams when star players left. Suddenly losing such a player is not the best situation for any team."
S1mple played with Natus Vincere's international lineup from July to October 2023. With him, the team reached the final of ESL Pro League Season 18, where they lost to MOUZ. Later, Igor "w0nderful" Zhdanov took Kostylev's place in the roster, and the revamped lineup became the champion of PGL Major Copenhagen 2024.