NAVI continues to decline after the Major: first, they placed 9th-12th at EPL S19, now the same in Dallas. But is it fair to call such results a decline? Currently, the team performs as expected, just as they did before their triumph in Copenhagen, which might have given a false sense that NAVI had reclaimed their top positions in global CS.
Andrey "B1ad3" Gorodenskiy, the team's coach, gave a sobering interview after their exit. He understands the players he works with well: "Our players are not stars. We took them from the tier 2-3 scene, and sometimes they will struggle, being inconsistent. Let's see who can transform into a stable and top player. We rely more on teamwork than individual performance."
Blade also emphasized the importance of boot camps. Before the Major, NAVI trained for two weeks, and the next one will only be in the next season. Its outcome will determine the potential of the roster and whether it needs replacements. Changes are inevitable if the team continues to perform without results.
So, there's no surprise in NAVI's exit. But the current situation for s1mple is not enviable. Why is that?
There's nowhere for s1mple to go, just like NAVI. Kostylev has been on NAVI's bench since October 2023 - the anniversary is approaching soon. During this time, the most realistic option for continuing his career was... NAVI.
S1mple's contract is valid until the end of 2025, and the buyout clause there - no doubt - is astronomical. Only a few can afford it, such as the actively emerging Arabs like Falcons or yet non-existent clubs. Perhaps G2. Or s1mple himself might decide to throw everything aside and buy out his contract.
That's why NAVI remained Alexander's top priority: a modest and unstar-studded lineup would quickly hit a ceiling, and to break through it, a rested and rebooted superhero would help. This logical picture was drawn during the inactivity of the greatest. Blade reluctantly, but confirmed it: he said that s1mple definitely wouldn't return before the Major, but what would happen after - he didn't specify.
But here's the trouble: NAVI won the Major. For s1mple, it's trouble for two reasons.
1. NAVI showed that they could win - even at the Major, even in the final against Faze - without him. It's a huge blow to his ego and influence. He even hesitated about whom to support in the final:
"In the final, my ego was for Faze, but my heart was for NAVI. Before the start of the first map, I decided to support NAVI. I knew how much this victory meant to Aleksib. I was proud of them: they were the first players (and Blade was the first coach) to win the first Major in CS 2. It's history.
[Ego was for Faze because you wanted to see how they would beat NAVI without you?] They won't beat NAVI, but won't let NAVI win the Major without me. That was ego. But I'm glad I destroyed it before the match."
2. S1mple didn't return to NAVI.
The obvious replacement candidate is iM. He did everything to be removed: played terribly and became the tenth worst player of the tournament with a rating of 0.88. And yet his roles imply that he's the team's star rifler, whose task is to inflict maximum damage.
NAVI's exit before, let's say, the semifinals would surely have meant a replacement for iM and s1mple's return. Not necessarily triumphant, but a return. "NAVI won the Major, so some plans changed," Kostylev explained.
Yes, s1mple's comeback is still possible, but the longer he doesn't play, the harder it is to believe that returning to NAVI is a sane idea. Kostylev couldn't even force himself to properly immerse in CS 2 - to dive into it and forget about everything else. The surge of gaming activity was during and after the lease at Falcons, then he didn't launch Faceit for a month and a half. He recently became active with a streaming marathon, but in the five days after it, he played only three matches. It's clear that finding motivation alone, especially in Alexander's status when there's no team, coach, or structure around, is much more difficult.