s1mple goes nuclear (in a bad way)

You know when we all decided that s1mple wasn’t toxic anymore?

Turns out it was just because he was winning every match.

Just after Heroic handed NAVI a spanking, the GOAT delivered not one but two scathing interviews about his teammate.

To Banks on stream, he said that “some players are shitting their pants on stage.” He then didn’t even bother turning up to receive the ESL Player of 2022 award, sending his manager instead.

During that ceremony, HLTV gave him a chance to wheel back on some of his criticism. Naturally, he doubled down instead: “it's not only one player, sometimes it can be even two or three players. The person just locks himself inside and he stops communicating.”

He also commented on NAVI’s peculiar role swaps, which included moving npl to Connector on Mirage and b1t to the B Apps. “You should ask B1ad3 because I ask myself some of the same questions” — a real vote of confidence.

We get it. He’s frustrated. After having competent teammates for about 3 months in 2021 he’s tasted what CS can really be like.

But it’s not like prime s1mple was in the server against Heroic, only posting a 0.93 rating. It was another sign of weakness after a very mortal 6 months for CS:GO’s reigning demigod.

But, for us at least, this drop-off says more about his lack of faith in NAVI than his actual ability declining. He’s a winner and expects the best from his teammates. He’s Michael Jordan, not Michael Scott. Why would he put in the hours when his team are so clearly in transition?

It’s sink or swim, not cuddle o’clock.

And when his team sink, s1mple — like any GOAT, in any sport — isn’t going to be someone you want to spend time around.

When you’re that good at something, it’s hard to understand why your teammate isn’t. And, that’s going to manifest negatively sometimes.

But it clearly correlates with something special, something in s1mple and Jordan’s brain that just makes them superior to the average player. He’ll be back, and so will NAVI. Eventually.