s1mple: "karrigan reminds me of Zeus in 2018"

A cheery s1mple was full of praise for FaZe as he embarks on his first Major journey for two years.

Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev has arrived in Austin for his 14th Major, and first since Paris in the summer of 2023.

The Ukrainian maverick has already lit a light under the Counter-Strike scene by signing for FaZe in what Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen called an "all-in" move for the trophy.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Stage 2
07/06/2025	FaZe 17:00 HEROIC	Match

At Austin that fire threatens to become a blaze. s1mple and FaZe, forced to use Felipe "⁠skullz⁠" Medeiros in place of Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard on debut in a 7-8th place finish at Dallas, have been practicing in the states for close to a full month with all eyes on Austin and an attempt to salvage their season.

"I just want to play in front of a crowd," s1mple told HLTV before joking that: "When I joined at the beginning, karrigan said, 'We're going to win the Major.' A few weeks later, our goal is to go to playoffs, maybe tomorrow only Stage 3, but we'll see."

Even with their new superstar, FaZe remain outsiders to win the trophy behind the Big Four teams that have been a cut above in 2025 so far. But the experience of FaZe, with an added extra starpower in the form of s1mple means they cannot be counted out.

If you cannot see the video, watch the interview here

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What's it like to be back at a Major?

Feels nice, feels nice to see a lot of people. It feels like a Major, not some other tournament.

How much have you missed Majors in the time you've been gone?

I was at the last one in Shanghai, it didn't go so well, but still. I miss playing on the stage of a Major. It's the most cool thing that can happen, playing in front of fans at a Major, yeah.

How do you look at Dallas as the first event back? Were you happy with that progress and your form, or looking for more?

I'm looking for more. After Dallas we had a good bootcamp, I think I got into much better form. But still, it would have been nice if we had a chance to play with rain because we would see more mistakes, what we need to fix. But I think it was still fine, and just looking forward to play as the whole team tomorrow.

What's it like to play with rain? We know you're a big fan of him, what is it like to play with these players that you've faced for so long?

They're just so calm, you know? Their aim is so crispy and clean. It's nice, it's really nice to play with him.

And karrigan, what's he like compared to other in-game leaders? What's your impression of him so far?

I like how he makes his decisions during the mid-round and he can instantly tell everyone what to do. In three seconds he can explain to everyone what to do. It reminds me of Zeus in 2018, when he was in peak form, when he was on fire, he was explaining to the whole NAVI team what we need to do and how we should outplay them right now.

One of the big things about that NAVI team was you rotating around and being active. Do you feel like you're into the CS2 meta well enough to bring that rotating style to the Major?

Yeah, I think so. I feel like it's good to be with a rifle as well, not only with the AWP with rotating. I think the AK is really powerful on the CT side.

How much rifling can we expect, then?

I think you'll see a lot of rifling from me on some maps. We'll see (chuckles).

One of the main storylines this year has been ZywOo taking the MVP record, and I've gotta ask you about it. Did it hurt you a little bit?

Not really, because I'm not playing. I'm pretty sure it would have been different if I was playing for all these months that I missed. But I'm looking forward to facing against him. He's the best player in the world, and let's see, let's see.

You've spoken about the arena, is that the goal, to try to get to the arena? Is it trophy or nothing, or what is it?

Of course the goal is the trophy. First of all, we need to go to Stage 3, and after we need to go to playoffs. I just want to play in front of a crowd. When I joined at the beginning, karrigan said, 'We're going to win the Major.' A few weeks later, our goal is to go to playoffs, maybe tomorrow only Stage 3, but we'll see. The main goal is always to win the tournament, and everything can happen at a Major.

What do you think this could mean for your career? It's been phrased as a temporary thing, but what's your view on it? Could you stay in FaZe if it goes well?

I don't know, we will see, we will see how we're gonna play. Maybe I'll shit my pants, you know? (laughs) And they're like, 'Oh, no, we're not taking this guy.' Or maybe... Anything can happen, you know?

Next season, do you want to be permanently on a team again?

We will see, we will see what's gonna be my options. Yeah, we'll see.