S1mple on EPL S18: "I can't remember the last time I played in a final"

NAVI's sniper, Alexander "s1mple" Kostylev, shared his thoughts after his team successfully advanced to the ESL Pro League Season 18 CS:GO final. The esports athlete also discussed the series of matches against Monte.

Reaching the final feels great, and it's important not only because it's the last LAN tournament for CS:GO. To be honest, I can't recall when was the last time I played in a final. It's fantastic that our organization will be part of this closing match. Monte also earned their spot in the final with their performances in the tournament.

I think we prepared well for map selection. We expected them to choose different maps, but Monte confidently went for Anubis. They started both maps strong, but it wasn't enough.

- Alexander "s1mple" Kostylev

In their matchup against Monte, NAVI secured a victory with a score of 2:0, earning them a spot in the grand final of the tournament. For Kostylev's squad, this marked their first final match in the last 440 days. Their opponent for the final will be determined after the match between MOUZ and ENCE, which has already begun but the score is currently unknown.

ESL Pro League Season 18 is taking place from August 30 to October 1 in Malta. Participants are competing for a prize pool of $850,000 and slots at IEM Katowice 2024 and BLAST World Final 2023. The tournament organizers have also announced that future events will be played in the CS 2 format and using the MR12 system.