Thorin: “S1mple will return to NAVI before the Shanghai Major”

Cybersports journalist Duncan "Thorin" Shields believes that Natus Vincere will want to bring back Alexander "s1mple" Kostylev to the main CS2 roster ahead of the Shanghai Major 2024. The British content creator shared his thoughts during the Last Free Nation podcast.

"Here's my bold prediction: s1mple will return to NAVI by the time of the Shanghai Major <...>. The Major starts in November, but there are many competitions before it, including for NAVI, who have the status of a partner club with major tournament operators. Here's what will happen: they won't change the roster, as they planned, but they won't achieve the desired results either. I think NAVI will place around 5th-6th at IEM Cologne 2024 and 7th-8th at ESL Pro League Season 20. I don't believe they will reach the final or win any trophies <...>. By around September, they'll face a situation where the management will question whether they want to compete at the Major with a roster that has practically proven it can't win a tournament. I think this will be the best moment to bring back s1mple."

S1mple went inactive in October 2023 but remains listed with NAVI. Since then, Kostylev played one official match as a stand-in for Team Falcons at BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2024. He previously stated he received several offers from clubs, but either organisations lacked the funds to buy out his contract or the team composition didn't suit him. The Ukrainian also expressed his desire to continue his career as a sniper.

Natus Vincere:

Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy

Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen

Justinas "jL" Lekavicius

Ivan "iM" Mikhail

Igor "w0nderful" Zhdanov.