S1mple Breaks All-Time CS:GO MVP Record With New NAVI Lineup

The revamped Natus Vincere (NAVI) CS:GO roster has won the Ukrainian esports organization its first tournament of the 2022 competitive circuit, BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2022.

Despite there being doubts about how NAVI would perform considering the switch in leadership roles with Denis "electroNic" Sharipov taking over the reigns from Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhaylov, the team has impressed everyone with its sublime performance at the Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal.

Shining bright in this new lineup was none other than NAVI star player, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, who was crowned the MVP (Most Valuable Player) of this tournament with an overall HLTV rating of 1.37 across 12 maps, which resulted in him breaking the all-time record for most MVP awards won by a CS:GO player.

S1mple holds the all-time record for most MVP awards won by a CS:GO player

The victory at BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2022 was special for NAVI, as it walked in with a new lineup consisting of Ukrainian rifler Viktor "sdy" Orudzhev, being loaned from MAD Lions for the tournament, along with a new shotcaller as electroNic took over the responsibility for the first time ever in his career.

There were doubts about how this lineup would perform, which grew when NAVI lost its opening bout against OG in the group stage, but it came back strong winning the next four matches in a row to lift the trophy and walk away as the champion.

A huge contribution towards this achievement was made by one of the best CS:GO players in the world, s1mple, who not only played his heart out for the team but also carried them out of some tough situations. With an overall rating of 1.37 across all the matches and a K/D differential of +88, the sharp shooter was on the dime for the better part of the tournment.

This resulted in him being named as the MVP of the tournament, his 20^th such title overall which makes him the all-time record holder, surpassing Nicolai "device" Reedtz who currently holds 19 MVP awards to his name.

NAVI will now be focussing on carrying forward this momentum to the upcoming IEM Cologne 2022 where some of the top teams from around the world will be clashing against each other. It remains to be seen if NAVI goes forward and signs sdy or does it get a new fifth player to complete its roster.