FURIA has just qualified for the playoffs of a Major for the first time in over two and a half years. This milestone comes after the team decided to open itself up to international talent, notably bringing in two players from the CIS scene: Danil “molodoy” Golubenko and Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis.
But this isn’t the first time the Brazil x CIS combination has made headlines. Back in 2018, the Brazilian team SK Gaming — two-time Major champions — was on the verge of signing the player who would go on to be named the world’s best that same year: Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev. This is the story of the biggest move in CS history… that never came to be.
Brazilians in Doubt
In 2016, CS:GO was booming, with Majors now offering $1,000,000 in prize money and taking place twice a year. Out of nowhere, the Brazilians stormed the scene and won both Majors that year. It was the culmination of a steady rise for FalleN and his team.
After two playoff runs in 2015, Luminosity (FalleN, fer, coldzera, TACO, fnx) reigned supreme in 2016, then continued their success under SK Gaming, an organization that matched their ambition.
But the three following Majors were less fruitful: the team had two top 4 finishes and one top 8. After testing felps and boltz in place of fnx, and with TACO on his way out, the team began considering deeper changes — even if that meant looking beyond Brazilian borders.
A Superteam in the Making
With the Brazilian talent pool exhausted and the gap between SK and the rest of the local scene widening, their eyes turned to Europe. As former manager Ricardo “dead” Sinigaglia later revealed, their first target was shox, who declined for personal reasons. Then came NiKo and rain, but the Norwegian never followed up, ending that path.
That’s when s1mple and KRIMZ came into the picture. The Swede was about to become a free agent, making him a logical option — but that idea quickly fell through. In the meantime, s1mple proposed a different name: his Na’Vi teammate, flamie. Everyone loved the idea, and negotiations with Natus Vincere began for what was set to be a record-breaking transfer.
At the time, Na’Vi was a solid top team with Major contender potential, but not consistent winners. The chance to join a trophy-winning roster like SK must have been appealing for both players.
The Biggest Transfer in CS History
FalleN and his teammates weren’t just aiming for competitive upgrades — they wanted to step up on all fronts. As I revealed at the time for Flickshot.fr, the plan was to join Immortals and revive the legendary “mibr” tag. With significant financial backing, the organization was ready to buy out both Na’Vi players in what would’ve been the largest transfer in CS history — in money, media impact, and competitive significance.
As a reminder, at the start of 2018, s1mple was already seen as the best player in the world, while flamie had been in the top 20 twice before. By comparison, coldzera had been considered the best player in the world in both 2016 and 2017, fer had just finished 3rd in 2017, and FalleN had finished 2nd in 2016 and 6th in 2017. A true superteam on paper.
On Tuesday, March 22, 2018, Flickshot, HLTV, and ESPN Brazil broke the news. A bombshell. The scene went wild. The players had agreed, the buyouts weren’t an issue, the project was exciting — everything pointed toward this superteam becoming reality.
Airports, Cancellations, and Loyalty
Official: s1mple and flamie stay with Na`Vi
— Yevhen Zolotarov (@NAVIHarisPilton) March 23, 2018
But the next day, Na’Vi’s CEO tweeted: “Official: s1mple and flamie stay with Na`Vi.” Within 24 hours, everything had changed.
Rumors say flamie was so excited about the move that he was willing to help pay part of his own buyout. He had already bought his plane ticket and was at the airport, ready to fly to the U.S. and sign — when everything was called off. s1mple, it turns out, never showed up. He backed out at the very last moment.
Shortly after, s1mple commented on the situation, saying:
It is not the time to leave the team, with all the goals that we set. My journey is not finished yet.
A project of this scale might seem less shocking today, but at the time, merging two such different cultures and playstyles was still a radical idea. What tipped the scales was Na’Vi’s trust in s1mple, the influence of his family, and the lifestyle change. He had previously lived in the U.S. while playing for Liquid, and didn’t seem eager to return.
In 2023, he explained it in an interview with Thorin:
It wasn’t NAVI who gave me a better offer, but I was talking with my family and my dad said, ‘I personally think you shouldn’t leave because you have already played in the USA and the language barrier issues.’ And I made my decision that I won’t be playing for SK.
The End of Brazil’s Reign, the Rise of s1mple’s Legacy
In the end, SK signed Stewie2K — and tried to get autimatic, who declined. Stewie joined alone and was later followed by tarik. The roster never achieved anything significant, and the project turned out to be a strange and disappointing chapter. felps and TACO returned later, but the glory of 2016 remained a distant memory. coldzera’s move to FaZe in 2019 and the full disbanding of the team in 2020 officially closed the mibr era — a project that never fully reached its potential.
No one knows how that superteam would have performed, but one thing is clear: s1mple didn’t make the wrong call. Eight months later, Na’Vi won ESL One: Cologne 2018, made the final of the FACEIT Major in London, and s1mple was finally crowned the best player in the world in HLTV’s Top 20 for 2018.
The following years had ups and downs, but in 2021 he finally won a Major at PGL Stockholm — capping off a legendary year with wins at IEM Cologne, DreamHack Masters Spring, ESL Pro League S14, BLAST Global Final, Fall Finals, World Final, and an Intel Grand Slam. Naturally, he was named Player of the Year for 2021, and held that spot in 2022 as well, despite a quieter season (only a BLAST title and a Major final in Antwerp).
CS:GO’s Greatest What If?
The story of s1mple’s almost-transfer to SK Gaming is one of those fascinating “what ifs” that help define esports history. It captures the ambition of elite teams, the human complexity behind major decisions, and the weight of personal choice in a player’s journey.
While this Brazil x CIS superteam never came to life, its ghost still lingers in CS:GO history as a missed opportunity. But from that near-miss, another legend emerged — that of a player who followed his intuition and built his legacy with NAVI, becoming one of the greatest to ever play the game.
A single turning point in a career — one that ended up reshaping the story of an entire game.
