s1mple: "The grand final was so serious; my hands were shaking after this game"

We spoke with Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev after he won the OMEN Challenge over Nathan "⁠NBK-⁠" Schmitt and heard about his experience playing at the duel-based event.

The Ukrainian star shined in the event and claimed the win in the tight grand final, claiming the $30,000 first place prize. s1mple outplaced the likes of Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz, Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač, and Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard to claim the victory in London.

s1mple holding the winner's ring

Following the grand final, we spoke to s1mple about the specially designed map, compared 1v1 and 5v5 game modes, and more.

You came here to the 1v1 event, you jump into the map and you didn't play it before. What was your first experience, first thought when you jumped into the free-for-all?

I think there was only one problem with this tournament, the voice of the casters. Sometimes we heard casters and we understood the move that the enemy is doing. There was one situation where I had the chance to knife NiKo and the casters said I'm behind him and he just turned around. The map is a bit random map, not very random, but it is all about timings and aim as well. But overall it was a good event and it is very fun, the four-player deathmatch, and the map is interesting.

At the beginning it was obviously fun, but you got to the finals and at one point NBK- was kind of getting back in the game, I think he even took the lead. You were showing some signs of frustration, was it a bit more serious in the grand final?

It was so serious, I was sweating, and it was hard for me to understand that I'm losing to my emotions, that I was starting to get more aggressive when I just needed to wait for info, for sounds, and get the kills. But in the end, when the score was 17-17, I actually thought I was going to finish with the AK, before the AWP round. But my hands were shaking after this game, it felt like we beat Astralis, to be honest. (laughs) It's all the same feelings, really, you are really happy.

The map seems like a Quake map or something like that, a 1v1 game, how different is playing this to a 5v5 where even if you fail something your teammates can bail you out of the round?

In 5v5 it is much different, it is all about teamplay and your team, utility as well. It is a lot different. Of course you are trying to outsmart the opponent on this map, it is not just a headshot map, but the difference is [huge] in the team game.

What are your thoughts on the challenger players, what is your experience playing against them like?

I'm happy that OMEN gave them an opportunity, especially with this 1on1 for $5,000. I think they showed themselves well and I wish them good luck. I heard zonic picked them so that is nice, that they worked with their psychologist, they talked about food and good sleep and how not to burnout after a lot of hours of play.

Lastly, do you think these kinds of events have a place in the circuit? Would you come back and play again?

Yeah, yeah, it is a fun event. Maybe something new should be added, but 1on1 is always fun. I used to play 1on1 in 2013, 2014, before I joined HellRaisers. I played for monitors, iPads, and I played against pros, and it is the same feeling when you beat them.

Nathan 'NBK-' Schmitt Age: 25 Team: VitalityB Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1652 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.66 Håvard 'rain' Nygaard Age: 25 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 1123 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.69 Nicolai 'device' Reedtz Age: 24 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 1354 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.62 Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač Age: 22 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 1092 KPR: 0.81 DPR: 0.67 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 21 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.23 Maps played: 1035 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.66

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