Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev is widely recognized as the greatest CS:GO player of all time. To add to his long list of accolades, he set yet another impressive milestone over the weekend.
The Ukrainian received first place in HLTV’s top 20 players of 2022, beating players like Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov. This was s1mple’s third first-place award in HLTV’s rankings, making him the only player in history to place first in three different years. He was also named 2021’s and 2018’s best player.
Until this year, s1mple was a part of the two-time winners club, which hosts three other renowned CS:GO players. ZywOo, Marcelo “coldzera” David, and Christopher “GeT_RiGhT” Alesund have each placed first in HLTV’s rankings twice. The Frenchman did so in 2020 and 2019, the Brazilian legend claimed the crown in 2017 and 2016, and the Swedish icon won in 2014 and 2013. In 2015, the award was secured by Olof “olofmeister” Kajbjer.
In the years when s1mple didn’t claim first place, he was also high in the rankings, never dropping out of the top 10. He made his debut in 2016 after placing fourth and ended in eighth place in the following year. In 2018, he took the crown for the first time and has since never dropped out of the top two, losing his 2019 and 2020 No. 1 spots to ZywOo.
S1mple also has a number of S-tier trophies under his belt, including the PGL Stockholm CS:GO Major, and Intel Grand Slam Season three. When it comes to being the GOAT of the game, it’s tough to name another player.
