The final event of the year has ended and it would not be complete without the mention of the absolute GOAT of CSGO – Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev. The Ukrainian rounded out the year with a sensational performance again at BLAST Premier World Finals to complete a dream run from the lower bracket all the way to the $500,000 grand prize.
The tournament started with a shock loss to ‘dead’ team Team Liquid who upset NaVi in the opening game. The Major winners then bounced back with a vengeance as they fought back from the lower bracket versus Heroic, G2, Team Liquid again for revenge and then ruined Vitality’s last dance in the consolidation final.
In the Grand Final, they defeated their domestic rivals Gambit who had hounded them a lot during the first half of the season, but post player break it was NaVi who took the spoils every time, especially at the PGL Major.
This was s1mple’s 8th MVP in 2021, the most by any player ever in a single calendar year, overtaking the previous best of Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz who had 7 MVPs in 2018 during the era of Astralis.
S1mple MVP 2021 Events:
- BLAST Premier Global Final
- DreamHack Masters Spring
- StarLadder CIS RMR
- IEM Cologne
- ESL Pro League Season 14
- PGL Major Stockholm
- BLAST Premier Fall Final
- BLAST Premier World Final
The 24 year old AWPer looks set to be crowned the #1 player of the year for the second time, after getting his first in 2018. He outdid his 2018 performance by a margin and had the trophies to boot this time around, and a major title. He will become the first player to reclaim the #1 spot, after missing out on it in 2019 and 2020 courtesy of Mathieu ‘ZywOo’ Herbaut.
NaVi also cemented 2021 as their year, winning almost every S tier tournament in the second half the year and a couple of #1 finishes at the start of the year as well. It was the addition of Valeriy ‘B1T’ Vakhovskiy that gave NaVi the push they needed to go from #2 to #1 team in the world.
The NaVi era is well and truly here and they will look to continue their winning ways once the 2022 season begins, as will s1mple who is showing absolutely no chances of slowing down any time soon as he vies for the crown with NiKo and ZywOo, to be called the best player to ever touch the game, but for 2021 he is a class apart from the rest.
