S1mple Thinks He Needs to Step Up His Own Game as NAVI Defeats Heroic

Natus Vincere (NAVI) had a tough night against Heroic in the quarterfinals of the PGL Antwerp Major 2022. The Ukrainian organization clawed its way back into the BO3 series following a defeat in the first map. NAVI displayed excellent teamwork to claim a spot in the semifinals following a close '2-1' victory.

However, NAVI star AWPer, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, who had an overall HLTV rating of 1.07 along with a +10 K/D was not particularly satisfied with his individual performance in this match. During the post-match interview with James Banks, he said that "It was hard to play, especially for me. So first of all I need to step up because as a team we played really well today on the second and third map".

S1mple commends the teamwork shown by NAVI but feels that he needs to step up his own game

NAVI made sure that no more Pick'Em predictions were harmed in any way as they defeated Heroic with a '2-1' scoreline following a tense comeback, securing themselves a slot in the semifinals against ENCE.

After a '16-10' defeat in the opening map Inferno, which was Heroic's pick. NAVI faced another close match on Ancient, but managed to close it with a tight '16-14' scoreline. The final decider took place on Nuke, where NAVI looked more than prepared to complete its comeback as they cruised through with a '16-8' score.

Despite a shaky start, NAVI slowly found its rhythm displaying fantastic teamwork on the second and third maps. While the support was great, Denis "electroNic" Sharipov took on the responsibility of leading the charge for NAVI tonight, top fragging for the side across all three maps and securing an overall HLTV rating of 1.46 with a +23 K/D ratio.

Though happy with the team's performance, s1mple was not satisfied with his individual showing, as he was unable to take over the reins for the side in this all important series.

During the post match interview he made a statement about focusing on his form and stepping up his own game for the matches ahead, "I just need to step up a bit because my team carry me."

Upon being asked the reason behind his fall in individual performance, s1mple explained that a few unlucky rounds screwed up his tempo. This is because in certain situations he tends to think that the opponent is going to do something smart, but then they end up doing something normal and it throws him off.

Following this win over Heroic, NAVI has secured themselves a slot in the semifinals where they will be going up against ENCE later today at 23:30 IST. It will be another great series and hopefully, s1mple will deliver a performance that is on par with his caliber.