s1mple adds Major MVP to collection

'The Undertaker' was in scintillating form throughout the tournament.

Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev added another first to his growing list of achievements by powering Natus Vincere to an undefeated Major run in Stockholm, taking home the MVP medal presented by HLTV x Bitskins in the process. It was also his first ever Major MVP.

This is the 24-year-old's 17th MVP medal of his career, taking his total to only two shy of Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz's leaderboard-topping 19, and his tally for 2021 to six.

s1mple did as s1mple does and topped the charts in a plethora of categories across the event, leading in rating (1.47), KD-diff (+106) and kills per round (0.95).

He put in some breath-taking carry performances as Natus Vincere tore through their competitors, a 2.26 rated, 27 kill 8 death crushing of Gambit in the semi-finals and a 40-bomb in the final map of the event being the highlights.

The Ukrainian superstar simply outclassed his nearest rivals for the MVP title, with teammates Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy and Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov playing second fiddle to their AWPer, and defeated finalist Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač dropping off in the game that mattered most.

b1t deserves special mention for the fact this was his first ever Major, and second ever big LAN event.

2021 MVPs by HLTV.org:

BLAST Premier Global Final - s1mple
cs_summit 7 - Jame
IEM Katowice - sh1ro
ESL Pro League 13 - Ax1Le
FunSpark ULTI Europe Final - FaNg
DreamHack Masters Spring - s1mple
Flashpoint 3 - frozen
EPIC League CIS - Hobbit
IEM Summer - Ax1Le
BLAST Premier Spring Final - Hobbit
StarLadder CIS RMR - s1mple
IEM Cologne - s1mple
ESL Pro League Season 14 - s1mple
IEM Fall CIS - sh1ro
IEM Fall Europe - device
PGL Major Stockholm 2021 - s1mple