S1mple saves NAVI’s bacon at BLAST, praises team communication—when he’s not ‘toxic’

The first CS:GO tournament of the new season ended with a banger of a series that pit the finalists of the 2021 Stockholm Major against each other in a decider match in the BLAST Premier Fall Groups. Though much has changed in the intervening years, including the majority of the rosters on both squads, the stars remained in place, still shining: once more, it was s1mple versus NiKo, and yet again, it was the Ukrainian who came out on top in a close-fought series.

More than anything, this series was about a resurgent performance of the new-look NAVI’s original components, with the two Ukrainians, s1mple and b1t, carrying the team with a 1.35 and a 1.25 HLTV 2.0 rating, respectively, across the finish line. This was especially the case on Inferno, where NAVI seemed to drop the ball at first after amassing a 10-5 lead on the CT side but finding a new gear at 11-11 to close the map out in regulation.