s1mple: "Sometimes I think that winning the Intel Grand Slam is cooler than a major"

Alexandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, the AWPer of NAVI, in a live stream of the English-speaking ESL Pro League Season 14 analyst desk, commented on his team’s victory over Vitality in the final of the tournament. He noted that the Intel Grand Slam champion status that came after the success at the event could be more important than the major because previously only two rosters received the prestigious award.

The parts quoted are the translation from our Russian website.

Unbelievable emotions. The title won in such a tense battle is the most pleasant thing. <...> Sometimes I think that winning the Intel Grand Slam is cooler than a major because there were only two teams that achieved it. We have done a great job. After the summer break, we got together at the bootcamp, and each player contributed in the final. Knowing that everyone is giving their all is the most wonderful feeling. The final success was decided in detail, like the entry frags of each of the players.

According to s1mple, on Mirage, which was the decisive map in the confrontation with Vitality, NAVI's poor performance made him think about a possible defeat.

When the score was 11:10, I felt that victory is slipping out of our hands. We tried to commit on the B Bombsite, but didn’t throw the right nades and generally played badly. When your opponents see so many of your mistakes, they tend to get extra confidence. And because of this, I realized that the ending of the match was going to be difficult.

The 23-year-old Ukrainian called his current teammates the best of all that he has ever had during his professional career. He noted their hard work and dedication.

My teammates are the best I've had in my entire career. I have never won so many tournaments with anyone else. When we play together, there is a fire in their eyes. They do not want to rest on past laurels and want to progress further. Everyone understands that NAVI can achieve much more if, for example, we can improve our game on Overpass and Inferno.

At the end of the interview, s1mple thanked the fans for their support and noted that his team is looking forward to getting back to tournaments with the crowd. He hopes that PGL Major Stockholm 2021 will be the first event with a crowd after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

I need new haters. The old ones became my fans. I'm tired of talking about haters and I want to thank the fans. I love NAVI fans and CS fans. Thanks for watching this game. Hopefully, LAN events will be back soon. I'm fired up for the major. I heard that the crowd will be there. My team and I are looking forward to the first tournament with the crowd.

Let us recall that the victory at ESL Pro League Season 14 brought NAVI $195,000 of money reward. The team received another 1 million dollars for winning the third season of the Intel Grand Slam.

Origin: csgo.ru