Mag — on the performance of NAVI.GG.BET in the DreamLeague Season 11qualifiers

NAVI.GG.BET — earned their spot at the Major!

Video operator of NAVI Konstantin «PrinZe» Zagrebelny discussed with Andrii «Mag» Chipenko the victorious performance of the team in the closed qualifiers of DreamLeague Season 11.

— How did you like the group stage of the qualifiers? Which team surprised you? What went sideways for  NAVI?

— The group could be a little easier. Initially, I considered Virtus.pro as the main favorites for the regionals,  Gambit Esports and The Pango as the main rivals for the second spot. The start turned out to be difficult because we lost right away to Gambit. We could have won the first game because I think that we had a good draft. But we made a lot of mistakes and could not properly utilize Slark. The combination of Keeper of the Light and Medusa is very strong in team fights, but we were not successful in countering it. In the second game, we failed in the draft and also lost some moral. It was much more difficult to play, and there were no such opportunities as in the first game. As a result, we lost the series.

Then we met  Pavaga Junior: we won the first game but made a lot of mistakes in it. They took the second game: we lacked some confidence in ourselves and the guys just tumbled down from that point. At that moment I was very worried because I mistakenly thought that only two teams advance from the groups. It was necessary to turn things around. We often draft together with Akbar ( SoNNeikO), I sometimes suggest things, although, in general, he is in charge of the draft. In the third match, I decided to take the draft in my hands, so it would be easier for Akbar to concentrate on coordinating without being distracted by the draft aspect. We had to win, to begin with. In the end, the victory over  Pavaga Junior gave us confidence.

Against The Pango, it was a tough meeting. We lost with the score 1 : 2, but could have won 2 : 0. We had opportunities to win both, in the first game, and in the third. I re-watched the replays: there are a lot of individual misplays, errors in team fights and in movements around the map. It was not like our usual game. We practiced a lot, started to play around January 8 and almost have not had a rest. At first, the game went very well, but then there was a period of slump: we lacked confidence. But after we went through all the difficulties, even though lost to The Pango, we gained confidence and understood that we can play better and get to Major through the lower bracket. So, nothing really changes, you just need to play more games. The same team Pango will fall to the lower bracket against and will have to play against us — we can smash them this time around, Gambit Esports, with whom we have already had a match in groups. We could only have problems if  Virtus.pro made some errors, just like on the last qualifiers, — but this time around they played well.

We, of course, had a difficult path. If you remember how it began (in the finals of the open qualification we have met with the  Winstrike Team), back then we could say that it was very difficult for the teams to prepare against us. Just look at the draft — they are very different during the open qualifications, groups, and playoffs. As they say, to win, you need to change. I spent a lot of time on drafting to our strengths, which is why the draft and the priorities changed significantly. Objectively, we outdrafted and outplayed the opponent in two games. Quite confidently, and most importantly, in these matches, the guys have played very well, they made better decisions. There was less confusion in team fights, minimum errors. Looking at this, I understood that if I also continue to draft, and let the guys focus on the game, then everything will work out.

— Is there at least one game where you have been outdrafted and you would like to change the lineup, even thought the game was won in the end?

— I felt very confident, and on the last day, I was even more confident in myself, as I managed to put all the strategies together. I had a lot of ideas, and I prepared something unusual. In addition to all this, I can not say that I had any problems. Objectively, there are few strong drafters in the CIS: there are  Virtus.pro players who understand the game really well, their coach ArsZeeqq, who has great ideas, Artyom ( fng) deserves a mention. But I did not have doubts in myself and understood that I could outdraft anyone, and the execution part is on the team. Still, it is important to perform well, since choosing good heroes is not enough. I tried to make the maximum out of the drafting stage. But, of course, I was very worried, looking at all the games, because during the matches I could no longer influence anything.

I wouldn't want to change anything. Whatever happens, happens. Basically, all games ended with the score 2 : 0 — only one series in the groups against The Pango ended with the score 2: 1. But in the lower bracket,  NAVI was completely different team. In the second game against The Pango, we doubted about the last pick — choosing between Sniper and Dragon Knight. The choice fell on Sniper since we have played with it before. Before the restart, everything was fine: there was a clear plan about the lanes, Puck was in a bad spot. But a new game begins: the opponents put completely different wards, uses other builds. And in the end, our laning is no longer so great: it turned out that they outplayed us. But, you know, when you watch a replay, you see moments where you could have done better. The Pango players had such opportunity, and they took advantage of it.

I think this is wrong when there is no set of rules. Because before, if there was a remake you had to go on the same lanes, put the same wards, use the same builds — this is all very important. But this situation is directly the fault of Valve, which has not yet made it possible to load the games. Previously, this was possible, but after the release of the Reborn the feature has disappeared. About four years have passed, but there are no changes. It seems that until such a situation arises at a tournament of The International level, where you need to create a game from scratch and everyone simply will be pissed, Valve will not make a move. I'm just sure that there needs to be something done about that.

— Before the start of the qualifiers,  Virtus.pro and  Gambit Esports were considered as favorites. Why do you think this is the case? How important was the final victory for you?

— Honestly, I do not care who was considered as the favorites. In qualifiers, we were stronger, we only needed to add confidence, which we had on the way to the final match. Actually, the third qualifying day began with the fact that I woke up with the idea of using Chaos Knight on position 4. I woke up Chuvash so that he could practice him in pubs. We even played one match together. We had a clear plan, and I wanted to use this hero either in a match against Old But Gold, or Gambit Esports. It was very pleasing to pick something new, and not something that everyone takes. Dictate the meta game so to speak. We manage to do that, Chuvash played perfectly, and the idea, as for me, totally worked out. And the guys, of course, played like beasts. For us, this meeting was as a matter of principle.

Why were Gambits considered as favorites? They recently played well on the Minor, took second place there, but for some reason, everyone forgot our performance in Moscow, for some reason people thought that PSG.LGD, Virtus.pro and Team Secret didn't give a damn about this tournament but this is not true. Back then we were able to show the game head and shoulders higher than before, and I knew that we would approach the following qualifiers in stronger shape. We had many difficulties, but the most important thing was that we overcame them all together. In each game, it was the case that someone did more to win than usual. For example, Blizzy in the first game against Gambit Esports, and in the second — Crystallize. We lacked this confidence before. Now the guys are a very cohesive team: each one of them not just gave their all but went even beyond that. Even I, as a coach tried to boost the guys confidence with the drafts and successfully managed to do so. A very pleasant feeling: I did not doubt even for a second, and the guys eventually executed everything.

— Now there will be a certain time window before the Major starts. How will the team spend it?

— The DreamLeague Season 11 starts in a month and a half, we have a lot of time. Right now all the guys will go home, rest a day or two. I myself feel tired, there were a lot of nerves these past three days, I want to relax and recharge. At the end of the month, the closed qualifications for ESL One Mumbai will start. As for the bootcamp, it will be right before the Major — 10 days before the start.

Really would want to enter the top 8. The last time, if I am not mistaken, this was on The International 2017, when in the top 8 were two teams from the CIS region — Team Empire and Virtus.pro. We have a strong region, very strong teams. Now, if you take a comparison of the three slots for North America and two — for the CIS at major tournaments, then objectively our region is stronger. If you ask me, if you take the top 4 teams of the CIS region — according to the results of the qualifiers, you can say that the teams are  Virtus.pro,  NAVI,  Gambit Esports and, most likely,  The Pango — and compare them with the top 3 of North America, then there is only Evil Geniuses. All the rest of the teams, Gambits and Pango will simply destroy. Why there is such a distribution of slots is quite unclear. Apparently, you need to come to the Major, dismantle some teams, enter the top 8, and then the question of allocating slots will be raised.

If we take the statistics of the number of teams in the open qualifications of the CIS and North America, the community is much larger in the CIS, but the region is not developed. This is the wrong approach, and it is not clear to me who decides how to run it. It shouldn’t be done that way.