Natus Vincere is doing great at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022, but it’s hard to ignore the lack of star AWPer Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev.
s1mple is absent from BLAST Premier Fall Groups despite being part of the registered roster until the day before the competition. Danyyl “headtr1ck” Valitov from the Natus Vincere Junior roster is playing in his stead. Here’s the context for s1mple’s substitution and how the team is performing without him.
Natus Vincere announced that s1mple would not attend on August 19, the day before the start of the tournament. The organization did not reveal the reason behind s1mple’s absence, though they did issue the statement below in an official statement. s1mple himself has not commented on the matter.
“Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev will miss the group stage of BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022 for personal reasons. We will additionally inform you when s1mple joins the team on our social media and website, stay tuned for updates,” said Natus Vincere.
It’s impossible to speculate on the exact reason s1mple chose to miss BLAST Premier: Fall Groups, though the statement does specify that it was for personal reasons. s1mple has stayed active on social media cheering on his team and getting into some back-and-forths, making it unclear as to what happened. The superstar has shown that he is very close with his family and friends. This is an odd circumstance and at this point, fans can be confident that s1mple will not take part in the event, even in the final round.
How is Na’Vi doing at BLAST Premier without s1mple?
Losing the greatest player in the game sounds like it would cripple Natus Vincere, but the squad is actually doing well at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2022.
Na’Vi went 3-1 in the group stage, winning best-of-ones against G2 Esports, Complexity, and Team Liquid. This came after an opening loss to Complexity that forced a full lower bracket run. That record puts it just one match away from securing a trip to the $425,000 BLAST Premier: Fall Finals.
Na’Vi’s regular players are performing, with a particularly strong performance from Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy. He sports a 1.37 KR ratio after the group stage with 71 across three maps. Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi is also popping off, earning three triple kills and a pair of quads.
Stand-in headtr1ck isn’t expected to dominate the competition, but the developing AWPer has held his own. 69.1% round contribution and .72 kills per round let him have a strong impact against the likes of Liquid and G2. A 1.26 KD ratio shows the potential of Natus Vincere Junior’s current roster.
