It is rare where you get a single game that shows all of the attributes of a single player in time. To get a good picture of a single player’s performance, you usually need to take a broad look at all of the games they’ve played against a variety of opponents. So when you do get a game that exemplifies all of their attributes into one singular moment, it is worth pointing out. Because of that I’ve started a new series called The Carry. In this series I’ll pick out singular maps or sides of maps that showed the qualities of some of the best players throughout CS:GO history. In this first iteration it will be about Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev vs. Mouz from the Starladder i-League Starseries Season 4 finals.

The context behind this match is important. By the time s1mple got into the finals, it was clear that Na`Vi were a dysfunctional team. You were getting the odd good performances from Egor “flamie” Vasilyev and Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev had some good clutches throughout the tournament, but the majority of the work was coming from the s1mple show. As for Mouz they had run a gauntlet through the tournament defeating SK, Cloud 9, G2, and Liquid. By the time the finals happened, Mouz has rightfully claimed the title as the best Mirage team in the world.

This is where s1mple comes into the picture. The series was 1-0 in Na`Vi’s favor as they won overpass. Once it got to Mirage, Mouz should have closed this one out easily as Na`Vi don’t have a good Mirage, but they have a s1mple. In one of the most super heroic efforts, s1mple hard carries Na`Vi dropping 43 kills and forcing the game into overtime where Na`Vi barely lose out. This is the s1mple carry.

I won’t go over the entire game, I’ll just point out a few key rounds from each side that explains the impact that s1mple was giving to the team.

s1mple on the T-side: Opening up, teamwork, and playmaking

On the T-side of Mirage he got the opening kills in round four and seven. In round four he opened the game with an AK from connector, in the seventh he out dueled Tomas “oskar” Stastny’s AWP with a deagle. In the eight round he secured a 5v5 postplant situation by getting four kills. These few rounds shows how s1mple generally operates in the team on the T-side. He is responsible for both getting the opening kills and then closing the rounds out, essentially having two of the hardest roles put into one.

Round nine shows s1mple’s teamwork. In that round Edward was able to break into the B site and s1mple followed up leaving them in a 2v2 scenario. S1mple cleverly planted next to the box so that he could boost Edward onto it and from that point on baits the players coming in from catwalk with his AWP. He gets one and then draws the player closer into the site where Edward can get an easy shot to end the round.

The final round to note on the T-side is the 13th round. In this round Na`Vi are stuck in a 3v5. S1mple is boosted up into window where he infiltrates and cuts into Ct-spawn. He gets two kills to break open the A site and then rotates to get the third who is coming to reinforce essentially flipping a “lost” round into a victory. That shows s1mple’s play making prowess, Mouz didn’t do anything particularly wrong. Sometimes you just get s1mple’d.

Speaking of getting s1mple’d, the Ct-side was even more ridiculous. By the end of the Na`Vi’s T-side they had gone 4-11 with three of those rounds almost entirely off of s1mple’s back. Every round was important for Na`Vi to force a comeback.

s1mple on the CT-side, creating favorable duels, navigating chaos, and winning unwinnable moments

In the pistol round, Na`Vi is left in a 3v2. It’s a precarious situation as mouz hit A with a player flanking from window. S1mple is together with Daniil “Zeus” Teslenko. S1mple gets the first player in sandwich and spots another in palace. At this point the player behind them flanks and kills Zeus. S1mple then repositions and creates two 1v1 scenarios for himself to close out the round. The important thing to note is that it was the correct macro decision, however he also needed the skill to close out the duels fast.

In the 18th round, Na`Vi were on a forcebuy and Mouz decided to just hit B hard with five players. This is usually considered a bad decision as you are gambling there aren’t a lot of players in the B site to punish you and while I agree that this is the case, upon rewatch I don’t think this is a bad move. Consider that s1mple usually plays in in middle or on A site. So avoiding him is always a good thing. Even then this tactic could have worked except s1mple hit 2 headshots with a scout. Even then Mouz almost close it except s1mple somehow also wins the 1v1 with a scout. So if we’re just looking at how things worked overall, if s1mple was even 5% less insane Mouz would have won this round.

In the 22nd round, Mouz do an A execute and get two kills early on leaving Na`Vi in a 3v5 with s1mple at danger and Edward stuck in firebox. In this round s1mple does something both aggressive, creative, and skillful. He goes into the molly next to the box, peeks out and then kills the planter. This forces Mouz to react as they try to trade him out, however the chaos allows Edward to come out and get a kill while s1mple covers palace and gets the third player. This round is won by s1mple’s aggression, composure, skill, creativity, and teamwork with Edward.

Round twenty four is just disgusting. Mouz do everything right here. They flash off s1mple from cat and Miikka “suNny” Kemppi chases him down. suNny sees s1mple being boosted onto the box at cat and somehow s1mple gets an instant shot killing suNny first.

The final round I want to look at is the twenty ninth round shows a different side of s1mple. This was an eco round from mouz with an AWP on oskar. Oskar is able to get a pick early on and they hit the B site. They are able to kill the cat player leaving s1mple the last defender. He makes sure to stall out for time, never over committing to a fight until the rest of the Na`Vi gets there to help him clean up the site.

Look back for a moment at what s1mple has done throughout this game. He has been getting opening kills for the team. He is closing out rounds. He is winning ridiculous duels: his deagle against oskar’s AWP and that shot against suNny on cat. In a forcebuy scenario, he is doing massive damage with a scout. In a 3v5 scenario he is making deep lurks into the enemy side to break open the game. He is playing well with his teammates, making sure he is staying alive and baiting for them when they have a setup. He is using his creativity and aggression to make plays that no one else would have made with skills no one else can match to take rounds that should have been Mouz’s.

Now think about the entire context of that tournament and the scene in general. S1mple is reaching around this level of performance in nearly every game he plays. He is simultaneously reaching a level of skill we’ve never seen before and a level of consistency only matched by the best players in the world. He is the world’s best player and this is the challenge he brings to any team that challenges him. How do you stop a man that can win duels, get impossible shots, open rounds, close rounds, and play make when their team is a man down? This is why he is the best player in the world and why despite Na`Vi being a bad team, they will always have a chance so long as s1mple is in the server. He is the best player in the world, playing at the top of his game. Enjoy this moment because this is the best show in esports and we may never see its like again.

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