FaZe Clan performed their first match with Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev at IEM Dallas 2025, however sadly for them, Crew Liquid have been prepared and received the sequence convincingly.
S1mple and FaZe had an opportunity to make the sequence extra fascinating as they put up an excellent struggle on Historical, the primary map of the sequence, however Liquid prevailed in the long run and received by 13-10.
The sport then moved on to Inferno, and regardless of a few clutches from s1mple, FaZe misplaced by 13-10. It’s exhausting guilty the people, as FaZe are additionally enjoying the match with Felipe “skullz” Medeiros as a substitute of Håvard “rain” Nygaard, in order that they have little to no time to construct their tactical repertoire.
That stated, the expectations for s1mple have been excessive as he’s been away from the servers since November 2024. S1mple didn’t disappoint in any respect and was arguably FaZe’s finest participant within the sequence. The GOAT has loads of time to heat up much more, as he’ll keep in FaZe till the BLAST.television Austin Main 2025.
s1mple talks about his return to competitors
Can s1mple regain his outdated type and assist FaZe attain the IEM Dallas 2025 playoffs? Credit score: Luc Bouchon | © ESL
S1mple has been on an infinite break ever since 2023, when he stepped down from NAVI’s CS:GO roster. The three-time finest participant on the earth barely performed CS2 competitively, having solely performed just a few matches for Falcons instead final yr.
He shared some perception about his return in a fast interview with Freya Spiers at IEM Dallas 2025.
“I’m feeling nice,” s1mple advised Freya. “Trying ahead to enjoying the primary recreation. I used to be training nades day by day and enjoying DM with bots. I used to be studying new positions on seven totally different maps.”
S1mple additionally stated that he missed competitors “quite a bit”, particularly enjoying in entrance of the followers, and he hopes to assist FaZe advance to the playoffs of IEM Dallas.
FaZe and s1mple’s pathway to the IEM Dallas 2025 playoffs is difficult, although
To achieve the IEM Dallas 2025 playoffs, s1mple and FaZe must win three consecutive best-of-three sequence within the decrease bracket of group B. That can be a tall activity, undoubtedly, on condition that s1mple is studying their playbook they usually have skullz as a stand-in for the rest of the occasion.
IEM Dallas’ group B additionally options the likes of MOUZ, Falcons, and Aurora, who’re among the many favorites to succeed in the playoffs. With that in thoughts, FaZe must defeat no less than one in all them to succeed in the playoffs, as the highest three groups from every group will advance.
FaZe will play their second IEM Dallas match tomorrow in opposition to the loser of MOUZ vs. BC.Recreation, they usually should win to keep away from an early elimination.
