IEM Dallas 2025: s1mple’s Return with FaZe Starts Slow as Liquid Secure 2-0 Victory
- India Today Gaming
- May 20, 2025 (UPDATED: May 20, 2025 11:45 IST)
s1mple made his highly anticipated return at IEM Dallas 2025 with FaZe Clan but faced a tough 2-0 loss against Team Liquid. Twistzz led Liquid with a dominant performance, while s1mple showed signs of form despite the defeat.
Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev made his long-awaited return to competitive CS at IEM Dallas 2025, this time wearing the FaZe Clan jersey. After months away from the game, fans were eager to see the legendary AWPer back in action on a big stage. His comeback brought a lot of attention to FaZe’s opening match, and for good reason. Expectations were sky-high. But things didn’t go quite as planned.
In their first Group B matchup, FaZe went up against Team Liquid, a squad with plenty of talent and something to prove on their home turf. The series took place on Ancient and Inferno, both maps ending in 13-10 wins for Liquid. The final scoreline of 2-0 was a tough one for FaZe, especially considering the hype around s1mple’s return.
Before the match, s1mple had shared his excitement, saying he is all exicted to participate after so long in front of American CS2 fans.
IEM Dallas 2025: Liquid Outclass FaZe in 2-0 Sweep
But once the game kicked off, it was Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken from Team Liquid who grabbed the spotlight. Facing his former teammates, Twistzz put on a masterclass performance. He racked up 40 kills, a 90.5 ADR, and a 1.36 rating, proving to be the difference-maker and leading Liquid to a confident win.
As for s1mple, his performance wasn’t bad at all, especially considering how long he’s been out of the server. He ended the series with a 1.12 rating, 80.8 ADR, and 65.2% KAST — solid numbers that show he’s still got the form, even if there’s a bit of rust to shake off.
After the match, s1mple took to Instagram to reflect on the loss, writing:
“Rough first game, lots of mistakes, we’ll be back tomorrow.”
With this result, Liquid advance in the upper bracket, while FaZe drop down and will have to fight to stay in the tournament in their next match against the loser of BC.Game vs MOUZ.
It wasn’t the dream debut s1mple or FaZe fans were hoping for, but it’s far from over. There’s still plenty of CS left in Dallas, and all eyes will be on how FaZe responds in their elimination game.
Written by: Ashish Jha, India Today Gaming