BC.Game acquire SAW core

Bruno Sobieraj Published January 5, 2026

BC.Game has decided to bring in a VRS core to play alongside Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, and they settled on the Portuguese SAW trio – Christopher “⁠MUTiRiS⁠” Fernandes, Adones “⁠krazy⁠” Nobre, and António “⁠aragornN⁠” Barbosa.

Thanks to the acquisition, BC.Game will be in the top 24 in the VRS rankings, securing themselves precious invites to some of the world’s biggest events in 2026.

Besides the obvious technical reasons behind the change, let’s discuss whether this move will help s1mple and his crew perform to a higher standard in the coming year.

SAW core performance in 2025

MUTiRiS will be the leader of BC.Game in 2026. Credit: © SAW

Most CS2 fans would consider SAW to be a middle-of-the-road, okay tier 1.5 team, and they would be right. Their 2025 form reflects that, as the Portuguese team fought most of their battles at lower-tier events against lesser opposition.

Despite delivering uninspiring performances for most of the year, there were times when everything clicked, and SAW made a decent run. The two best performances both came at PGL events – PGL Cluj-Napoca and PGL Masters Bucharest 2025.

While in Cluj-Napoca, they made the playoffs with an old iteration of the roster, the Portuguese ran wild in Bucharest, where they made it to the semis, and came out on top in the third-place decider against GamerLegion.

Although it’s only a one-off performance, it shows that the SAW core is capable of going toe-to-toe against some of the top 10 fringe teams. This should be a good sign for s1mple and Denis “electroNic” Sharipov, coming into next year.

s1mple and electroNic have to step up

s1mple and electroNic will have to frag out in 2026. Credit: Adela Sznajder | © ESL

It’s very difficult to assess s1mple’s time at BC.Game thus far. While he is doing well statistically speaking, his performances are not to the level that fans would expect from the greatest Counter-Strike player of all time, especially considering who he’s playing against.

The addition of electroNic was also puzzling. The Russian’s pedigree within the game is rightfully very high, but his recent stints on top teams have been dire. From the outside, it seems like he’s been hired more so as s1mple’s mate than a solid player.

Both s1mple and electroNic are known to have strong voices within the team, so it will be interesting to see how the core of SAW fits in and how their game will evolve. Will the former NAVI duo take the reins, or will MUTiRiS be the leader on and off the server?

In any case, s1mple and electroNic need to step up on an individual level for this new BC.Game lineup to have any chance against the world’s best. After all, none of the players they brought in from SAW are particularly heavy hitters.

• Read also: Counter-Strike 2 release date

Feature image credit: © BC.Game Esports