s1mple reportedly signs new deal, staying with Na'Vi through 2020
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev has reportedly renewed his contract with Natus Vincere’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team.
According to
dbltap.com, Na`Vi’s star CSGO player has reportedly signed a new deal that will keep him with the Ukrainian esports organization through December 2020. s1mple originally signed with the organization in August 2016 after a stint with Team Liquid.
The reported signing keeps one of CSGO’s best players with Na`Vi for at least another year. Na`Vi has suffered from a fair bit of turnover over the past few months, trading away Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev and losing longtime captain Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko to retirement in early September.
The organization also released head coach Mykhailo “Kane” Blagin, moving Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy from Na`Vi’s esports director role into the vacant head coaching spot in response.
The voids on the lineup have been filled by Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov and returning AWPer Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács. They join from Winstrike Team and FaZe Clan, respectively. Guardian’s performance on FaZe varied, but his homecoming was a welcome one for s1mple according to an official Na`Vi interview on Youtube.
“The difference has been huge since Andrey, Kirill, and Ladislav’s arrival,” s1mple said.
Despite roster moves, Na`Vi’s performance is still erratic.
With or without s1mple, Natus Vincere remains inconsistent
Na`Vi’s roster moves haven’t brought the organization the consistency it was hoping for. Successes and failures are still coming in equal measures.
The organization won group D in ESL Pro League Season 10’s Europe division to earn a spot in the finals and finished fourth at DreamHack Masters Malmö. On the other hand, s1mple and company came in 16th place in October’s StarSeries & i-League Season 8 tournament after being defeated by Heroic.
The team is currently competing at BLAST Pro Series Copenhagen and owns a 1-1-1 record, beating Liquid, losing to FaZe, and tying Cloud9. After BLAST Copenhagen, Na`Vi will make their next appearance at the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals in Odense, Sweden on December 3.
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