s1mple, The GOAT of CS, Returns With Team Falcons

Saudi Arabian organization Team Falcons has been doing well in top-tier professional Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports events, with a recent string of losses spurring five-time Major Championship coach Danny "zonic" Sørensen to say "changes are needed" in a post-match interview at BLAST Fall Final 2024.

While rumors have been floating around about Team Falcons' plans, they did manage to surprise fans with the announcement we've all been waiting for...the return of the Counter-Strike GOAT.

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Yes, Ukranian AWPer Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyljev is finally back after a year-long absence from competitive play. s1mple last participated in October 2024, and we'll see him on the server with Team Falcons soon. This means that Spanish AWPer Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia has been moved to the bench. It is important to note that s1mple is on a three-month loan contract from NAVI, and has not permanently joined Team Falcons.

Team Falcons announced this long-awaited news on social media and even added an image of s1mple holding a goat...

!THE LEGEND RETURNS
S1mple is back on a 3-month loan

🦅⚡ Time to soar higher 🦅⚡

الأسطورة @s1mpleO يعود ليلعب معنا لمدة ثلاثة أشهر على سبيل الإعارة! 🐐💚#FalconsAreHerepic.twitter.com/ZafLO1YXqF

— Falcons Esports (@FalconsEsport) September 27, 2024

In a short but sweet post on X, s1mple said:

Time to be back at LAN; that’s was my goal from the very beginning - to play the Shanghai Major! I’m very glad that we will have official games before we fix the mistakes and play the main tournament of this year!

s1mple went on to thank both Team Falcons and NAVI for the opportunity and proclaimed he would do everything not to disappoint his fans. s1mple did mention he could return "hopefully soon" back in July 2024.

It remains to be seen what will happen to s1mple after the three-month period expires, as no future plans have been revealed by the GOAT. However, we do know for a fact that we will see s1mple compete in the European RMR for the Perfect World Shanghai Major!

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