NAVI.GG.BET interview highlights

ELEAGUE Boston Major - through the words of our players!

ELEAGUE Boston Major has only recently concluded, and the dust has finally settled. NAVI is coming back from the tournament with some fresh experience after fighting with some of the best teams out there, and the status of "Legends" behind their belt. The players were also often caught within cameras' lenses and were interviewed a fair bit.

Let's take a look back at the last few days with our brief interview and video recap. Here is ELEAGUE Boston Major through the words of our players!

Alexander "s1mple" Kostylev after the first victory over QBFire

— Tell us about NAVI before and after Zeus came back. What were the differences?

— Zeus made the team stronger tactics-wise. Electronic's input was also quite significant, on top of his individual skill. In the end, we've got a good roster with a solid "chemistry". Danylo is a great leader, and he works quite efficiently with Kane - our coach.

 - How did you prepare for a team without much data on their competitive side? If they never played a LAN, what were the things you considered important during the preparation? 

— Kane has analyzed 10 matches of that team on Mirage and Inferno. We did not look at the other maps because we thought we'd play on either one of those. We watched their game against pro100, and also a match where they defeated Space Soldiers 16-3 at WESG, with the CT half at 13-2. That means they are rather strong on this map.

Egor "flamie" Vasilyev on the eve of the group stage

— What do you need to do to show a good performance at the ELEAGUE Boston Major group stage?

— We are going to have 4 days before the games. We will practice a lot. The week before the tournament ESL Pro League Relegation took place in New, so we traveled there and had nowhere to practice. We've pretty much forgotten how to play (laughs). Now we're gonna focus on our game, on our tactics. And I hope that everything will go well in the group stage and we will make it to the playoffs.

— What is your opinion on the change Valve introduced for this Major - having 24 teams?

— I've never played Major qualifications before. It feels just like the playoffs and the final of a tournament - each time gives the heart and soul. It gets tough if you lose concentration like it happened in our games versus FaZe and mousesports. If the opponent is more focused, they will destroy you. As you can see, we need to regain the focus. Of course, nothing really changed for the players, but they know it's Major. They are playing more passionately, giving it their all, to pass this stage.

Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev after the victory over BIG

— Were you ready for BIG?

— When we were training, we really weren't paying attention to who we are going to face. We were mostly minding our own game and tried to show a "beautiful chaos". What is the team playing against us is not very relevant.

— Were you as confident in the game as the score, 16-1, suggests?

— Electronic played brilliantly, he showed a beautiful game. There were many situations where 3 players went towards B, and only 2 were going for A, so when BIG would go for A, we'd still trade 5-0. His performance was truly impressive.

— Could you describe how electronic changed over the last 3 months? How well does he fit in the team?

— We spend a lot of time bootcamping, so he adapted well. He is a young guy, hungry for victories, and he does everything well. He is not too calm, but his emotions fuel him.

Alexander "s1mple" Kostylev after getting to playoffs

— Your performance at the Major cannot be called consistent. You then won, then lost. In the last two confrontations, you won fairly confidently. Did you manage to overcome this problem or are you still working on it?

— After winning the first qualifying match and in the first game of the Major tournament, we lost confidence. We understood this, so we worked hard and talked a lot with our manager, Ugin. He, among other things, plays the role of a psychologist in the team, so he helped us before each game to focus exclusively on Counter-Strike. Before the fights, we do not have fun, although sometimes we joke. However, everyone understands that, from now on, you need to be completely focused to win the game.

— What is your mood for the upcoming games?

— Now we have nothing to lose. In the group stage, we were afraid that we might not make it to the playoffs, we could get eliminated out of the group stage. After all, many expected that we will enter the top 8, our fans from the CIS, so ... now we will do everything to prove that we are progressing.

We are still working for several hours a day to achieve good results, not only in this tournament but also in the future. We had psychological problems. We lost the game to ourselves before it began. Every day we try to remedy this situation. I think that we are onto it, and I'm looking forward to the playoffs.

— From your point of view, is this the best composition of NAVI, which you could create? I mean, judging by the latest major, there are a lot of talented players in the CIS region.

— Personally, I feel much better in the game, because now I perform only the role of a sniper and can completely concentrate on it. I think that the other four players of the team have a high individual skill, which allows them to play better and better. Now our team game has become stronger. Previously, NAVI did not have a good coordinator. Not that seized was a bad in-game leader, it's just that Zeus is more suited to the role of captain, he's really good at it. Danya is a real captain. He has been performing this role for 15 years already. I feel much better now that Danya and Kane are working together to improve our team.

— I would like to hear your opinion about the CIS.

— I know that players from the CIS practice a lot, including pumping out an individual skill. They play together 10 training matches per day. Not all players, like AVANGAR or QBF, have an FPL. However, they practice a lot. QB.Fire surprised me a lot with their comeback in the game against mousesports, I did not expect this. I believed that they could go to the playoffs, but I did not believe that they could return to the game and recoup when the score was 13:2. As for Vega, they always played well. We like to compete with them during training.

Egor "flamie" Vasilyev after an impressive quarterfinal

— How did you manage to pull off that kind of a stunt in the match against QBF? Did you drink Monster Energy before the match ?!

— To be honest, I do not know what is the secret. Just before the game, I felt more confident in my abilities, was properly tuned and charged to win. Of course, Monster Energy throughout the game. :)

— How do you like the Major? Are you satisfied with the conditions that the organizers provided to you? What can you say about the public? How many NAVI fans have you personally seen in the stands?

— I like everything: the conditions for players are excellent, there's really nothing to complain about. Fans here, as elsewhere, are plenty. Natus Vincere has a lot of dedicated fans all over the world, and it pleases, motivates! Thanks to everyone for their support, it is incredibly important!