Counter-Strike pros are gearing up for the 2019 season by keeping their wits sharp in high-level matchmaking environments, but Natus Vincere’s Oleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev seems to always stand above the rest even in a casual environment.
S1mple found himself in a one-versus-five scenario in a FACEIT match on Inferno, a situation that changes the game plan where most players would try to deal as much damage as they could before ultimately conceding the round.
The 21-year-old Ukranian, however, had other plans. After his last teammate had fallen, he was stranded in enemy territory near the Arch where he found his first kill.
Knowing there was at least one at A, he pushed to CT spawn to find another isolated player who was in the middle of rotating. S1mple expended just one bullet to their face, narrowing it down to a one-versus-three.
Ever vigilant, he backtracked to the Top of Mid where he got the drop on an AWPing opponent.
After learning of another AWPer on A site, S1mple baited the shot. He got tagged down to 25 HP but still thought to fake the plant.
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The ruse worked, as it gave the opponent the confidence to take one more shot, leaving him wide-open for a counter play. It was now one-versus-one, Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom against s1mple.
As s1mple planted the bomb, he heard ScreaM pushing up to the site. With only a quarter of life remaining, s1mple took a cheeky angle atop the double boxes on the site to find a defenseless ScreaM.
A single bullet to ScreaM’s head sealed a bleak round.
S1mple gave a modest fist-pump to his stream and another round for his team. The 21-year-old Ukranian is keeping his skills sharp as his Natus Vincere squad are gearing up for the new season starting with IEM Katowice in February 2019