ElectroNic: "We`ll keep working hard!"

Pre-ELEAGUE interview with electroNic

We caught up with  Denis "electroNic" Sharipov during the  NAVI's bootcamp in Kyiv to speak about the progress of the team,  Astralis's strong points and recent Counter-Strike updates.

Hi, how do you feel about your winning streak?

It feels amazing, we wanted this for so long. We have finally found a happy medium which allows us to win by balancing out the qualities of every player. I hope this won't be the last time we won. We will keep working hard to make our fans, friends and ourselves proud.

Judging by your recent individual performance, your adaptation process has been completed successfully. How did you find the best role for yourself? The first 2-3 months were not so bright for you results-wise. What has changed?

My role is to have as much impact as possible. When I came to  NAVI, I tried out different in-game positions. I just think that with time I was able to find myself in the team, started understanding the play style of each of my teammates better and learned how to combine it with my own. I think we now have found the best role for me.

Did you guys ever change the game plan and player roles right before the game? In which games?

Sure, sometimes we play in a certain way against certain teams. I can't give any specific examples because we'll need these setups in the future and wouldn't like our opponents to know what we can do.

What's the reason behind your recent poor showings on new Dust 2? Any ideas on how to fix things on this map?

We're working hard on that. This map is completely new to me. I haven't played it before. Honestly, I didn't even like it at first. But now, as I see my progress on it, I hope the team will also start playing better if I do my best because I hold some important positions.

Nuke has brought you some wins in recent games despite previously being one of your weakest spots; you've shown an impressive 7W-2L record over the past three months. Was it a positional change or you reevaluated your approach to this map?

We didn't change our approach. Roughly speaking, we used the same strats, just making small adjustments. Sure, something new came up every time, but our roles didn't change. We just worked a lot on this map both individually and as a team.

Currently, Astralis are one of your most important opponents. Why are they considered so strong? What do you hate most when playing against them?

They try to play a flawless game and win economically. They all have great aim, know their rotations and use grenades very well. In fact, they outperform other teams in many different respects.

Having faced so many teams on the world stage, which teams do you like to play against? Which ones you don't? Why?

It all depends on the game because usually, opponents do different things each time we meet. Nobody stands still – the teams are constantly improving. I don't have any favorite opponents to play against right now. For me, they seem to be the same.

Recently, Valve introduced changes to the CZ-75 and M4A1-S. How do those affect the game balance? Did they change your personal preferences?

They didn't change M4A1-S much, only increased reserve ammo. CZ-75 was a powerful pistol and still is a powerful pistol, its biggest advantage being that it's automatic and has 12 bullets. You can shoot at any speed, but it all boils down to how you play with it.  

What are your thoughts on Panorama? Do you like it or think devs should have focused on something more important instead? What should Valve work on to improve the game?

I think Valve does everything right. I tried Panorama and think it's great, but it has quite a few bugs, which is why I got back to using the old version for the time being.

Panorama will make the game more exciting because it's a next-generation interface. However, Valve will have to work on it a lot and constantly update it.

Dota has far too many updates now and many players complain about it, but the situation is a bit different with Counter-Strike. I'd love to see how everyone would react if Valve started adding new weapons regularly. I think everybody likes the game at this stage. The players think that Valve doesn't care about CS because they don't invest money in it, not because of the updates. I hope Valve will listen to us and organize something similar to International for CS. Because the game has quite a few competitors, you know, like PUBG, Fortnite etc.

You gathering so early for a bootcamp means that you want to extend your winning streak, correct? What are your goals?

Our focus is on getting in a good shape individually, working on our team play by trying out new setups and tricks and improving in-game communication. We'll also work on our weak maps.

Who are your main opponents at ELEAGUE? Also, don't you think that it's time for you to win your first MVP?

Winning a tournament and realizing that I played well is already a big thing for me. Regardless of how one plays individually, it is the whole team that contributes to the game and wins it.