JustHarry doubting s1mple: "This could be one of the most middling event performances"
s1mple's return is a tantalising prospect. Ever since he benched himself on NAVI in the days before IEM Sydney, NAVI has gone from strength to strength, and with his numbers already declining in the past two years, what can we expect from the GOAT of CS:GO?
Well, if you ask JustHarry, there's good reason to be apprehensive about the Undertaker's return to Falcons- especially given that his return will also mean a foray into an international squad for the first time in eight years (not counting his brief stint on international NAVI) as well as him leaving behind the AWP for the first time since GuardiaN left NAVI in 2020.
But this is the GOAT we're talking about, right? How can JustHarry have "an inescapable feeling that this could be one of the most middling event performances we'll see from the illustrious AWP Legend"?
Photo: Michal KonkolExcitement builds
s1mple's return means so much more than a player simply (pun intended) returning from inactivity. It's not like when device returned after his near year-long absence during his stint with NIP, in fact, it's much bigger than that.
While esports is still a relatively new space and is segregated in the same way traditional sports like Football and Basketball are, that hasn't prevented the creation of transcendent icons akin to Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, LeBron James, or Michal Jordan.
In Call of Duty, there's Scump, League of Legends has Faker, and even the fighting game community has a name as universally recognisable as SonicFox.
Photo: Michal KonkolFor Counter-Strike, there's only one name that fits the bill of a transcendent superstar: s1mple. And that is a sentiment echoed by JustHarry:
"When s1mple announced he was stepping away for a bit at the start of CS2, I think a collective sadness hit everyone. He was the best to ever do it, and you'd seen how high his peaks could be, it didn't feel right.
In many ways he was the face of Counter-Strike, the go-to name even people outside of our game would recognise as the best. Ask any League, VALORANT, Apex, Rainbow Six, Dota etc player to name the top CS player and they more than likely would've named s1mple." - JustHarry told BLAST.tv
Photo: Michal KonkolHowever, even in the more nuanced, Counter-Strike community, his return is more exciting than if he was just returning to activity as the AWPer for NAVI.
Although that may have once been expected, instead, s1mple will return to action for Falcons as a rifler, a role we haven't seen him play in over five years.
"His return is exciting for this reason, and because he's undertaking a new role in an international squad. When he was younger, s1mple had a brief stint in an international Liquid, but for the most part, this is foreign territory.
He also returns as a rifler, not as an AWP, which once again you've seen from him in the past briefly, most notably during some role overlap with Guardian, but nothing much since he solidified himself as the go-to AWPer in Counter-Strike," JustHarry told BLAST.tv.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenExpected level
Despite the optimism for what s1mple's return will mean for Counter-Strike, JustHarry is a little more apprehensive when it comes to the level he expects the GOAT to play at.
"This might be a stone-cold take, but honestly, I don't have any crazy expectations for s1mple. I have an inescapable feeling that this could be one of the most middling event performances we'll see from the illustrious AWP Legend.
The same reasons his return is exciting is also why it's challenging, compared to the other names we'll see he's relatively out of practice, but has been trying to offset this by grinding through FACEIT these last few months.
While the numbers were ugly at first, they've slowly risen to look far better but still fall short of the insane mind-melting calibre you'd usually associate with his name, and certainly not with consistency. For the most part, he's been average-good in these games, and 'average' is not a quality you ever associated with s1mple."
Although it might seem harsh, the numbers don't lie. s1mple has been grinding FACEIT and often finds himself at the top of his team's scoreboard, but that doesn't mean it hasn't changed from the s1mple of old.
In Global Offensive it would be a shock to see s1mple not dominate a pug. In Counter-Strike 2, the expectation for dominance now lies with donk.
However, this trend had already begun in CS:GO. In 2021, s1mple had a 1.35 HLTV rating. In 2022, this fell to 1.25. It dropped even lower in 2023 as he ended his final year in CS:GO with a 1.18 HLTV rating for the year.
As shown by HLTV, with s1mple being in the latter half of his career, this eventual downturn in form is to be expected - even if it hurts to see that even the gods are mortal.
Despite this, JustHarry isn't entirely pessimistic in his outlook on s1mple's return. It's actually a case of hopeful optimism with tempered expectations:
"I think when someone of his pedigree returns you always have to give them respect, and he is someone who thrives under pressure and performs his best under the heat of competition.
As doom and gloom as I'm feeling on the topic, you have to acknowledge who he is, what he's done, and just how good he is. I'd love to be proven wrong, in fact I hope I am, and for him to immediately be a challenger to other stars we see in tier one today.
But, considering he returns to an unrecognisable sea of faces in Falcons, in a role he wasn't famed for, with the expectations that he'll be some Godly world beater immediately, it feels like a perfect storm for a harsh trip back to reality." - JustHarry
And while that quote may seem pessimistic, focus on the keyword 'immediately' - it's clear the caster still has faith that s1mple can remind us all why he became so feared in the first place.
Photo: Stephanie LindgrenA new role
As JustHarry says, s1mple wrote his legend as an AWPer so well that the shots he hit seemed impossible to us mere mortals.
His proficiency with the big green allowed him to reach heights we never believed were possible, and only when those heights began to seem unobtainable did we realise how lucky we were to see him reach that peak in the first place.
However, when s1mple returns at BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2024, it won't be as an AWPer. On Falcons, that role is held by SunPayus, and Falcons now lack a star rifler following their benching of BOROS.
Photo: Michal KonkolThis means that s1mple's return won't just be out of his comfort zone of playing on a Ukrainian team, but also without the comfort of his trusty AWP. So, how does JustHarry think he will adapt to the change?
"s1mple could always do well with the rifles, he's had stints in the past where he had to fall into this role, and he's always had that rifling dawg in him.
While I've spent a lot of time here illustrating how his fame came from his AWPing he's always been a more than capable rifler in GO, and there was always the thought he could be a top rifler if he committed to it full-time. But that never happened, and we always saw him deliver his best moments with the AWP.
His responsibilities in rounds will be different, his opening moves will be different, where he finds his impact and how will be different. It won't be the same s1mple we've grown to know and love, but there's no doubt in my mind he knows where and how to find that impact still.
He just moves from one weight class, where he wore the belt and was your worst nightmare, into a whole new world with hungry new challengers and more established competitors at every turn. There will be people who can do this better than s1mple," justHarry says.
Photo: Michal KonkolIt's hard to argue with that final sentiment. Finding riflers who will possibly better than s1mple doesn't take much thought.
EliGE has been one of the best riflers in the world since the release of CS2, and NiKo is also starting to get back to his best. donk has also been a revelation given his consecutive MVP performances at BetBoom Dacha and IEM Katowice 2024.
And this is without mentioning ropz, frozen, or even ZywOo and his penchant for rifling.
As we come to the end of our chat about s1mple, JustHarry leaves us with one final sentiment. It's somewhere between a prediction and a hidden motivational message for the returning s1mple:
"The ball is now in his court in how far he wants to push this, glory could be his for the taking, he could cement himself as a top dog in CS2 right now, or this could be nothing more than a failed experiment and we see him donning the big green again by the end of the year."
Oh, and as JustHarry says we "guess you'll have to watch Blast Spring Showdown to find out" which one it is.
BLAST Premier Spring Showdown begins tomorrow, on March 6th, and the final match is on March 10th. 16 teams battle for two spots at the BLAST Premier Spring Final.
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