s1mple shares how he joined FaZe and got back in shape before the Major

FaZe Clan’s stand-in for Counter-Strike 2, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, has opened up about how he joined the team and got back into competitive form. According to him, the invite came from Håvard “rain” Nygaard, and his return to top shape was driven by a complete lifestyle change.

“Bratiki94 [bloggers Oleg and Konstantin Zhankov] came to visit us in Spain and said, ‘Let’s hit the gym.’ So we all went. At some point, rain messaged me: ‘Do you want to play at the Major?’ By then, I had already started changing my lifestyle — quit alcohol, began working out,” s1mple said.

After joining FaZe Clan, the team went through nine straight days of practice. s1mple told his teammates from the start that he’d perform better once bootcamp began — and he did feel improvement. Still, he admitted that nerves affected him in the early stage of the Major:

“I felt nervous and couldn’t show 100%. But when the team communicates well and rotates properly, it becomes much easier to play.”

s1mple joined FaZe on loan from NAVI in early May, replacing Helvijs “broky” Saukants. The BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 was his first tournament playing alongside rain, who had missed IEM Dallas 2025 due to the birth of his child. FaZe successfully advanced to the playoffs of the event.