HLTV portal named Alexander «s1mple» Kostylev the best player of 2021, noting that he remains unrivaled in all aspects of the game. At every event NAVI participated in, he was the team's top performer and was honored as MVP eight times. His statistical numbers are truly remarkable: he ranks first among all professional players not only in rating (1.35), but also in KPR (0.88) and ADR (88.2). At the same time, his results were characterized not only by a high level, but also by stability: at every tournament in 2021, he received a rating of 1.21 or higher at the end of the entire event and at least 1.00 on 89% of the cards.
Remarkably, at the biggest tournaments of the year, where players have to perform under high pressure, s1mple's results, unlike many other professional athletes, only got better: if only the most important events of the year, such as IEM Cologne and PGL Major Stockholm, are taken into account, his rating is 1.43.
S1mple emphasizes that the high result – is not only due to him personally, but also to the whole team. Commenting on his achievements of the past twelve months, he said that 2021 was his best. He has worked to improve many aspects of the game, but the most important thing for him has been consistency and persistence, and this is directly dependent on the contributions of everyone involved and the overall plan of action within the team.
S1mple wins the title of Player of the Year – last time he achieved this in 2018, but managed to surpass his own performance in 2021.