S1mple leaves door wide open for Valorant switch

NAVI currently sit atop CSGO esports with the Ukrainian org, led by GOAT contender Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, having just gone undefeated on their way to victory in the PGL Major Stockholm.

It was NAVI and s1mple's first Major victory, an achievement that had alluded a player who boasts 17 MVP awards, the latest at that very same Major.

The big question now is what comes next for NAVI and s1mple and the answer, at least in the short term, is simple - more Majors.

Speaking on the HLTV Confirmed podcast, s1mple revealed that he hopes to win "a few more Majors and one more Intel Grand Slam. [To become] the first team to win two Grand Slams."

But in the long-term could s1mple ever see himself switching to Valorant? It's a game that s1mple is often seen to be playing on stream and his skills on the AWP, or OP in Valorant's case, mean the prospect of bringing his insane talents to Riot Game's rival tactical shooter has been the source of much speculation.

It was a question put to him earnestly by HLTV's Chad "⁠SPUNJ⁠" Burchill and, in a somewhat surprising move, s1mple left the door wide open to a switch but made clear he has unfinished business in CSGO.

"[I'd think about going] when I achieve a lot for this organisation," said s1mple before laying out how he envisions his ideal exit from NAVI and CSGO would be, which sees him setting up the Ukrainian organisation for an extended period of domination.

"I'd give space for young players [and] in the next three years other organisations couldn't catch us," explained s1mple.

s1mple's plans may well become reality, NAVI has a prodigious group of young players (s1mple is 24 and in the same interview said he could be a top 10 player in his 30s), including Valerii "b1t" Vakhovskyi, 18, and Ilya "Perfecto" Zalutskiy, 21. There is also the much-hyped lya ‘m0NESY’ Osipov, 16, who currently plays for NAVI's academy team, NAVI Junior.

While admitting he was unsure what a move to Valorant would be like, he did suggest that North America is where he would take his considerable skills if that was to happen.

"If you move to Valorant, you probably need to move to NA. This is where Valorant is right now, it's really popular there."

Though maybe s1mple won't have to leave home at all if he switches to Valorant, or even NAVI, the org currently fields a CIS roster and it's a region that garners a lot of respect after the exploits of fellow CIS team Gambit in winning Masters Berlin.

You can watch s1mple's interview on HLTV Confirmed below. He begins talking about Valorant at 1:40:00.