S1mple Joins Faze Clan CS2 Team for Intel Extreme Masters Dallas and Austin Major 2025

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- Oleksandr “S1mple” Kostyljev is joining Faze Clan ahead of IEM Dallas 2025 and Austin Major 2025.
- S1mple isn’t new to being a loaned player, as he also joined Team Falcons back in 2024 in a similar deal.
- He has been playing for Navi since 2016.
Oleksandr “S1mple” Kostyljev is joining Faze Clan’s Counter-Strike 2 team for the Intel Extreme Masters Dallas 2025 and Austin Major 2025 tournaments as a loaned player. S1mple is widely considered one of the best Counter-Strike players, only recently eclipsed by Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut.
Faze Clan itself posted the announcement on its X account on May 2, 2025. S1mple’s addition to the team means that Helvijs “Broky” Saukants is leaving the main roster and is being benched.
Finn “Karrigan” Andersen was pained regarding Broky’s benching, saying that it’s the “roughest benching off [sic] my career” and that they all “failed in the team and that’s the sad part.” Karrigan acts as Faze Clan’s in-game leader.
This isn’t S1mple’s first rodeo when it comes to joining teams as a loan. In 2024, S1mple joined Team Falcons ahead of the Blast Premier Spring Showdown 2024. Team Falcons exited almost immediately in that tournament.
S1mple has been playing for Navi since 2016 and has won the Intel Grand Slam with the team. While he is technically inactive, his last appearance on Counter-Strike 2 was with Team Falcons as a substitute at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024.