Earlier this year, ESL introduced a unique “Player of the Decade Award” in honor of the decade of one of the most popular esports games: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO).
A jury of 75 of the best CS:GO players voted for who they thought had reached the highest level in the last ten years. The player with the most votes received the award shortly before the semi-finals of the major Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Rio CS:GO championship, which took place last Saturday.
In front of a live audience Alexander “s1mple” Kostylev was declared the winner and officially recognized as the best player of the last ten years. Thanks to his countless achievements, dedication, constant growth and influence on the esports scene, among other things, the Ukrainian player received the CS:GO Player of the Decade holiday award.
For a long time, s1mple he has been an inspiration to many aspiring players. His career path began when he was only 16 years old. when he became a quarterback for the LAN Dodgers. One of his first big hits was during DreamHack Winter 2014 when he defeated one of the most successful CS:GO teams of the time: Fnatic. Over the next few years, s1mple played for several other teams, including HellRaisers and Team Liquid. While many people have already recognized his talent and skill, joining Natus Vincere in 2016 was a dream come true and allowed s1mple to reach his full potential.
Together with the Ukrainian team, he achieved Intel Grand Slam III and took first place in the top ten most prestigious esports events, including ESL One New York 2016, IEM Cologne 2021 and PGL Stockholm Major 2021. S1mple himself earned a record number of MVP titles, becoming, indisputably, one of the greatest players of all time. Receiving the CS:GO Player of the Decade award is another milestone in s1mple’s career, summing up all his achievements over the past years.
“I am glad that I received the award, even if this time the main trophy was important for me.“, he said Alexander “s1mple” Kostylev. “And I still think there is one player who deserves this award as much as I do: device1ce. I will do my best to get the same results as you. There is no limit to perfection“.
Speaking of the most influential players of the last decade, it’s hard not to mention Nikolay “dev1ce” Ridts.. Dev1ce is known for winning the most CS:GO Majors and holding the most CS:GO Major MVP titles. In over eight years, he has made a huge impact on the esports scene, being part of some of the best teams like Astralis and Ninjas in Pajamas. Thanks to his many accomplishments and dedication to the community, he finished second in voting for the CS:GO Player of the Decade award.
Source: Tutto Mercato Web
