HLTV editor Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin wondered if Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev practiced in CS2 before the transition to FaZe Clan. He pointed at his FACEIT match data, where the AWPer had only seven games across a whole month, with the last two played after the announcement. The journalist discussed this at HLTV Confirmed.
I have a question. Do you think s1mple has a smurf on FACEIT? [SPUNJ: He should be banned if he has a smurf, that's breaking the rules.] Because you know all this talk about grinding. S1mple played every day in March. Most of the time with YEKINDAR. We know there was this kind of [rumored roster]. And then he didn't play until April 22 on his account. So since April 2, he had something like eight games, including the two today [on May 6]. So make of that what you want. I'm just talking about the grind and the dedication. I'm not going to make any conclusions, that's just information for people to use.
S1mple's match history on FACEIT shows only seven games after April 2. The last two were played with his new teammates: two with karrigan, one with EliGE. In the second half of March, the player had 2-5 games almost every day.
S1mple started hinting at his comeback in the late April. At some point, he claimed he was "grinding CS every day." Everything points out that the deal with FaZe Clan was signed relatively fast. There were no leaks or rumors until the announcement. On the same podcast, insider Milan "Striker" Svejda said he learned about his loan only 12 hours before the reveal on May 5. After the signing, s1mple said their team practice would start on May 7.
