One of Counter-Strike’s all-time greatest players is set to return to the highest level of competition. Absent from S-Tier tournaments since October 2023, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev will join FaZe Clan on loan to participate in the IEM Dallas (May 19–25) and the Austin Major (June 2–22), as announced by the organization on Monday. Three-time winner of HLTV’s Best Player of the Year award (2018, 2021, and 2022), the Natus Vincere legend remains officially contracted to the Ukrainian club. However, s1mple has not played under the NAVI banner for over a year and spent much of the 2024 season already on loan — this time with Team Falcons.

As the symbolic figurehead of the Saudi project, the AWPer ultimately failed to secure a single title with Falcons, nor was the team able to qualify for the circuit’s most prestigious events. His loan ended in November 2024, shortly before Falcons began a new, ambitious development phase. Since then, s1mple has not made a single official appearance in 2025. At FaZe, he will temporarily step into the shoes of long-time club member Helvijs "broky" Saukants, who has been benched after nearly six seasons with the organization.

Last title in April 2024

Considered the strongest team in the world at the launch of CS2, FaZe Clan has since lost that status. Despite reaching the finals of the last two Majors in Copenhagen and Shanghai, the team led by Finn "karrigan" Andersen has not claimed a title since the IEM Chengdu in April 2024. So far this season, FaZe has yet to reach a single final, with its best result being a third-place finish at the PGL Bucharest less than a month ago. This puts the team in 8th place in Valve's world ranking. s1mple, for his part, has not participated in any S-Tier events since the release of the CS2 update.