IEM Katowice Major: interview with Edward

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In the break between the “New Legends” and “New Champions” stages, we interviewed Ioann“Edward” Sukhariev. Vanya analyzed the matches in the groups, evaluated the changes in the format of the Major, and also shared his approach to studying new positions.

— Hi! How do you rate the performance of the Born to Win in the group stage?

Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev

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"That depends. There were matches where we demonstrated an uncertainty, but in the last match, against AVANGAR, I felt that the team had gained a good level of communication and understanding. It was very nice to play."

— On the first day, you faced against two French teams — G2 and Vitality. Can you give a brief analysis of these matches?

— Of course! The match with G2 was quite chill: although we made a couple of mistakes there but in general we kept the game under control. We played especially well on the attack: we took the pistol round and won 7 : 0. For the CT side, we won with a score of 9 : 6, although this is a strong side and the team could have shown a stronger defense. I remember that they did good rounds towards the A-plant.

And against Team Vitality — this is a match where NAVI led 14 : 8, Mirage, and basically, if we played more chill, we could have finished the game earlier. As a result, comeback, 15 : 15, but, thank God, the luck was on our side on overtime. And so passed these two matches.

— NAVI failed to reach the playoffs with a score of 3-0 because of the loss to Team Liquid. What were the key points on the Mirage that did not allow you to take your own map? And what caused the unsuccessful defense on Dust2?

— On Mirage, it was our game. Given that we played, so to speak, average. We ended up with 16 : 14, because we gave away some of "our rounds". For example, lost one force buy. Therefore, if we were better to act in these moments, Mirage could have been ours.

On Dust2, we didn't approach the game in the best mood for the CT side. We did not show what we were capable of, the level of communication fell down and we did not communicate a lot of useful information.

— In the quarter finals you will face FaZe Clan. In your opinion, what are the strengths and weaknesses of the European team?

— The strength is, of course, the high individual skill of each player. The weak side is the same, since, for example, they do not take decisions together, they often allow themselves to act individually, somewhere even too ballsy. This is their strong and at the same time weak quality.

— If you manage to beat FaZe Clan, then in the semifinals, most likely, you will be expected by Team Liquid. What is the reason for such an unfortunate performance of the Born to Win against this team? Over the last year 4 BO3 were played against them and every time you got defeated with the score 0 : 2.

— By now, we are losing to them more mentally, and not on the technical side. We constrain ourselves in actions, which, probably, is the key factor of our losses. This is a psychological block, it will be easier for us to play against them after we overcome it.

— How do you like the improvements in Katowice: ELO-rating and best of 3 in the decisive matches?

— I like it very much! In my opinion, these changes help to reduce the impact of the randomness on the results.

— What do you think in general about the organization of a Major? Are there any points on which ESL should work on? What surprised you pleasantly as it comes to the organization of the Major?

— Everything is evolving. It was funny that we were filming on the media day in a Polish mine. Let's see how it will turn out. I think ESL representatives will surprise us here too. In general, everything is cool, I like everything.

— Choose, please, the team that surprised you with their game at the current tournament, and the team, which, on the contrary, disappointed. And why would be that?

— To be honest, I'm somehow not disappointed neither surprised by anyone. Renegades can be highlighted that they passed through. Took a map from Astralis, while losing with a score 5 : 14. Well, in general, I would say that everything goes on its natural course.

— It is known that NAVI did not have a bootcamp before IEM Katowice, preferring online practice. Do you support such a decision? Which type of practice do you like more: offline or online?

— It doesn't matter to me — offline or online. It is important how the team works in these circumstances. Everything is relative: some people train better online, some worse. In general, if you train well online (you are not late, do not get distracted by anything), then why not train online. On the other hand, on LAN you have access to such things as live discussions, which is impossible online. This can also contribute to the result.

— Zeus mentioned that you resorted to changing positions on some maps. Satisfied with your current team position? How do you study new positions for yourself?

— Yes, we change the position on the maps periodically. We change roles. Now on Mirage I hold the “jumper”, on Nuke — the “street”. You get the most useful experience during training and official matches when you come across some variations of the game against yourself. Then you draw conclusions and play better. This is the most productive method of improving yourself in new positions. Well, you can still watch replays. Watch how others act on these positions. However, you will never play as well as, say, the best player in this position, just by watching the replay. You must pass this experience through yourself, go through it personally in order to become much stronger.