StarLadder referee says s1mple raged at teammates at StarSeries

Olivia Richman Published 24/10/2019

A referee may have valuable insight as to why Natus Vincere was eliminated from StarSeries i-League Season 8 so early on.

The StarLadder referee reportedly sent messages to his Telegram group about some of the members of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team.

In the first message, the referee had confided that Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev was “raging at teammates,” adding that everyone is “afraid to stop him.” He then accused Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovacs of being stuck in a cycle of tilting during matches since he “can’t kill.”

The referee also had something to say about Natus Vincere’s coach, Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy.

“B1ad3 made a pause and asked Boombl4 to start being a captain and not just a player,” one message read.

Soon after sending these scorching accusations, the referee deleted his Telegram group.

Natus Vincere struggles at StarLadder StarSeries event

While it’s still unclear if these messages support actual happenings during Na’Vi’s time at StarSeries i-League, there’s no denying that they underperformed at the event. s1mple and his teammates were visibly frustrated after losing to G2 and Heroic at the tournament.

s1mple used to be known as a very toxic player in his younger competitive years. But becoming the best CSGO player in the world may not have been enough to eliminate all of that toxicity from him after all, if these latest messages are to be believed.

Natus Vincere’s former captain, Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko, retired in September, causing many of the organization’s fans to wonder if Boombl4 had to adjust to being captain way too quickly as StarSeries approached.

On Reddit, many fans offered some potential insight into the situation. One Redditor said that B1ad3 was trying to hold the team together by telling Boombl4 to be a leader, since he knew that he couldn’t get s1mple to stop ranging.

“He figured if he had Boom step up, that would take more pressure of s1mple, who maybe in his mind feels he is having to lead, AWP, and be a star player carry in frags, as well as be a playmaker midround. Because his teammates aren’t doing their part well enough,” he theorized.

This would also “take pressure off of GuardiaN,” since s1mple would hopefully stop “flaming him” for missing shots. That would solve the tilting situation.

But B1ad3 shouldn’t have “expected it to work on a dime.”

Another user felt as though Natus Vincere could do well to remember these issues for next time, using this as a potential learning experience.

Not everyone agreed that the coach sould have singled out Boombl4 though. Another Reddit user commented that B1ad3 should have calmed s1mple down instead.

“Like what do you expect BoombI4 now trying to tell s1mple not to tilt? After that, s1mple will probably say that no one understands how to play again, and continue to rage,” they concluded.

Either way, most CSGO fans were in agreement that the referee should be fired for openly discussing the private issues a team is having. So far, StarLadder has made no statement on the matter.

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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