Alexander Kostylev, known as s1mple, has joined FaZe Clan. Just a couple of weeks ago, this news would have been hard to take seriously. While Håvard Nygaard (rain) had a somewhat inconsistent performance over the last six months, discussing the transfer of a player who last competed professionally in November 2024 to a top-10 team felt unlikely without a smile. However, the professional CS2 scene has once again proven that the impossible is possible.
S1mple has joined the team on a loan basis, meaning his continued presence in the lineup will entirely depend on both his individual and the team`s collective results. Thus, it`s premature to call this transfer a full comeback. Nevertheless, in an era dominated by ZywOo, donk, and m0NESY, it`s very pleasant to see the familiar nickname that struck fear into opponents even five years ago. In this piece, we`ll speculate on what this unexpected transfer might bring.
Before taking off the rose-tinted glasses and looking at reality soberly, let`s consider how this daring transfer might benefit FaZe Clan. It does offer a couple of potential advantages. The first and most obvious is s1mple returning to his preferred role. He won`t have to force himself to play as a rifler.
The Team Falcons scenario indeed disappointed many s1mple fans. Not only did s1mple play four tournaments with an average rating of 1.04 (certainly not what you`d expect from perhaps the best player in the shooter`s history), but the team`s overall results were, to put it mildly, lackluster. They placed 9th-16th at BLAST Premier: Spring Showdown 2024, 13th-16th at Thunderpick World Championship 2024, and 7th-8th at ESL Challenger Katowice 2024.
The final nail in the coffin was failing to qualify for the Shanghai Major. However, if Kostylev was to blame for this, his fault was minimal. The roster suffered from a dysfunctional coach-IGL dynamic and lacked a true young star player – it was composed solely of older players seemingly assembled at random.
S1mple has previously played with members of FaZe Clan on other teams. He isn`t coming in as a complete stranger; his transfer was initiated by Håvard rain Nygaard. It`s quite likely that Jonathan EliGE Jablonowski, who played with s1mple on Team Liquid, also enthusiastically supported the invite and is probably recalling past conflicts with a smile now, given how much time has passed.
There`s hardly a need to speculate on s1mple`s motivation – the AWPer is clearly driven to perform at 100%. There`s a possibility that this is the 27-year-old esports athlete`s last serious attempt to break back into the Tier 1 scene. As much as we admire Kostylev, it`s worth considering that if his time isn`t already over, it`s certainly approaching its end. Therefore, failing with FaZe Clan might mean Kostylev steps away permanently.
“It`s all-in,” commented FaZe Clan captain Finn karrigan Andersen on the transfer. It`s hard to disagree with this assessment. The team is currently not in its best shape and entered a crisis state after the Shanghai Major final. Their best result in the first half of 2025 was third place at PGL Bucharest 2025 – this is clearly not what the club`s players, who have won Majors, built their own era, and earned five gold bars for the Intel Grand Slam, aspire to.
S1mple`s FACEIT account suggests the offer was received quite recently; Kostylev hasn`t been playing CS particularly often. In April, the sniper played only 12 matches, and in May, he didn`t touch the matchmaking button at all. For comparison, let`s look at other players` statistics: donk played 12 matches between April 30 and May 4, and m0NESY played from May 2 to May 5. And all of this mixed with practice and official matches!
Kostylev stopped grinding CS a long time ago and has likely fallen out of the meta, so expecting him to instantly push FaZe to the top isn`t realistic. S1mple isn`t m0NESY, who single-handedly transformed a team with his transfer. Yes, the team under karrigan might see slightly improved results, but expecting them to reach the level of top-5 teams in just a couple of weeks is unlikely.
FaZe Clan`s problem wasn`t solely rooted in broky. Karrigan himself confirmed this, stating that the decision to replace the AWPer was the most difficult of his career. In FaZe Clan`s situation, it would ideally be best to change everyone at once, as the roster was broken after the disappointing second consecutive loss in a Valve major final. The s1mple transfer is a last-ditch effort to keep the team afloat. But no matter how many factors point towards potential failure, one wholeheartedly wants to believe that Kostylev will be able to orchestrate a “last ride” and, like in the good old days, carry the team on his shoulders at least to the playoff stages of tournaments with live audiences. Otherwise, hope dies not only for the comeback of arguably the greatest player in CS:GO history but also for the FaZe Clan we once knew.
Finley Holt