Alexander «s1mple» Kostylev and Denis «electronic» Sharipov confirmed that their contracts with Natus Vincere have been extended until the end of 2022. This should end the rumors that have surfaced recently that the status of both players could be uncertain – especially s1mple, whose previous contract expired at the end of December. Both cyber athletes have played a key role in the team for several years now, with Kostylev playing for the team since August 2016 and Sharipov – since November 2017.
Over the past four years, Alexander Kostylev has been consistently ranked in the top 20 players in the HLTV rankings, with a top position in 2018. He also ranks among the top of the list of cyber athletes who have won individual honors most often: he has been honored as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) a total of ten times. Electronic has been ranked in the top-20 of the individual rankings twice – in 2018 and 2019, and he earned his first MVP award just this year.
NAVI will likely find himself in the top 3 of the overall HLTV rankings in early 2021 thanks to several successful performances late in the year. The biggest win of 2020 for her was her victory at IEM Katowice – the last major LAN event of 2020.
