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BIG Dominate the Qualifier

Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev’s trip to India has officially been cancelled, not by choice, but by defeat. BIG swept BC.Game 2–0 in the European qualifiers for Skyesports Chennai 2025, sending the German squad to the $49,000 LAN while s1mple and Denis “electroNic” Sharipov’s new lineup were sent packing.

Overpass ended 13–4, Mirage finished 13–5, and the scoreboard told the story. Gleb “gr1ks” Gazin dropped 38 kills in total, topping the server with a 1.66 HLTV rating and outshining every BC.Game player by a mile.

Meanwhile, s1mple and electroNic struggled to make any impact. The duo finished with negative K/Ds as their team fell apart under pressure, closing out their short-lived qualifier run in brutal fashion.

s1mple Skyesports Chennai 2025

Image via HLTV.org

A New Chapter for BIG

This result marks a much-needed turnaround for BIG, who had fallen as low as 48th in the world rankings after parting ways with Karim “Krimbo” Moussa and promoting academy graduate Lukas “FreeZe” Hegmann to team captain.

The shake-up seems to be paying off. BIG now join Mousquetaires, True Thunder, Nemesis SEA, and two Indian qualifiers at Skyesports Chennai, the event set to take place in November.

It’s also the team’s first online qualifier win in nearly five years, and their most convincing performance since 2020.

Did BC.Game “Throw” To Avoid India?

After the loss, fans flooded HLTV threads with theories that BC.Game intentionally lost to dodge the trip to India. “Mission not to go to India completed,” one user joked, while another pointed out that “s1mple makes more in a month than the whole event’s prize pool.”

Others blamed poor form and preparation, noting that the roster barely scraped through earlier rounds and nearly dropped a Bo3 to Kazakh side NOVAQ after trailing 2–10.

Still, the speculation didn’t stop, with fans poking fun at s1mple’s alleged “vacation mindset.”

BIG’s Post-Match Trolling

Adding insult to injury, BIG took to X (formerly Twitter) to troll s1mple, referencing his recent obsession with Dota 2 instead of CS2 practice. The post quickly went viral, turning a routine qualifier win into a full-blown community moment.

For BIG, it’s a refreshing change of pace. After years of mid-tier finishes, they’re finally the ones dishing out the jokes instead of receiving them.

Skyesports’ Controversial Return

Skyesports Chennai Esports Global Championship 2025 (CEGC) is a smaller replacement for the cancelled Skyesports Masters, backed by the Tamil Nadu government to revive India’s esports scene.

However, Skyesports has faced heavy criticism over multiple event cancellations, including BetBoom’s withdrawal from the 2024 Championship and the suspension of their entire 2026 tier-one calendar.

With just six participating teams and a modest prize pool, many pros view the Chennai event as low-stakes, but for BIG, it’s an opportunity to regain footing and rack up valuable VRS points.

What’s Next

BIG will face Mousquetaires in the European qualifier grand final before flying to Chennai for the LAN.

Meanwhile, BC.Game and its superstar duo now face a difficult question: can s1mple’s new project actually work, or will his return to Counter-Strike end up being another short-lived experiment?