Aleksib: "We need to be better, we need to expect more from each other, we need to do everything we can"
NAVI may not have ended the year by lifting the trophy at BLAST Premier World Final, but they looked impressive as they reached the semi-finals in Abu Dhabi.
Still getting up to speed with their new man w0nderful, we spoke to captain Aleksib about the departure of s1mple, w0nderful's impact, and the first six months with NAVI.
Interview with Aleksib
Was it a disappointment to lose s1mple? You've said before about the difficulties of playing with inexperienced AWPers like you did on G2 and NIP, you finally had an experienced AWPer on NAVI, how did you take the news?
It was a disappointment for sure. I think when a change is made, no matter who it is, even if it's an inexperienced player or the best player on the team, if something happens when it's not the best timing or just when you've had a couple of bootcamps and started to get things rolling, you take a step back and it's never nice.
It is disappointing, but at the end of the day, in those moments you just need to look forward if you want top continue and that's what we're doing, that's the mindset right now.
Are there any developments in regards to his future?
I have no idea about the future. It's our last tournament of the year and after this we'll have a two week vacation, and then we have a really tough next year, so there's been no discussions about the future and I don't know yet.
So in terms of playing with younger and inexperienced AWPers, w0nderful is young but he has more experience than headtr1ck and m0NESY when you first started playing with them, how does that help in terms of integrating him into the team?
I think it's nice that he is easy to work with, he's a funny guy to have in the group and is really neutral in a lot of aspects. He's listening a lot and giving his input when needed, he has great potential to be really good, but anyone coming into s1mple's shoes doesn't have the easiest job in the world because everyone expects so much. He just needs to get more events under his belt, experience more tense moments, and the future looks bright for him.
Photo: Michal KonkolHow does his playstyle differ to s1mple's?
I think that maybe he is a bit more passive at times, but honestly, when you compare a playstyle to someone like s1mple. I think many people could play the same way as s1mple but when a clutch moment happens, s1mple would get a certain piece of information where he can make the best move in that situation, and that's what we see from god-like clutchers and all the elite players, right? I think that's just the goal of many up and coming players to be able to do the same thing in those tense moments and I think that's what splits them apart still, w0nderful still needs that experience, he needs those clutch moments and to become more comfortable with them or to get to show himself even more because we've only played so many games and not many on stage, so we just need to qualify for some playoffs so he can be in that position and he needs to own the moment.
To round off the questions about wq0nderful, are you experiencing any of the difficulties you've faced in the past with inexperience or is he already past the initial bump?
Obviously there is inexperience in a way that he still didn't play too many tier one tournaments, especially when compared to s1mple. But for the sake of our whole team, our team isn't that experienced and I think only me and b1t have played a lot of tier one tournaments and iM and jL were on the Major stage obviously, but as a group we need to experience the feeling of pressure more, because I think those are the moments were we might crumble and those are the ones we need to learn from the most. It's hard to answer questions when you're comparing a player to someone like s1mple, because he was regarded as the best player in CS:GO, so even I would look like a complete nobody next to him.
How are you looking back on your first half a year with NAVI?
As I said, I feel like we've been taking some steps back recently because of how things have unfolded, but prior to that I started to feel really good in what the system actually is and how to be comfortable inside it. At first I think it wasn't comfortable for anyone because everything was so new, a new team, a new system, new everything, so I started to feel more comfortable in how the team works and how the team is and we had a lot of tournaments and two long bootcamps behind us.
Now it's a bit different, and we just need to work with what we have right now. In NAVI I do feel comfortable, but as a team, we for sure need to play more.
What about your year as a whole? You're probably ending the year in a very different place to where you imagined you would be.
The year as a whole? We're hoping for a big finish to the year, and we'll be giving it all we have, but thus far I think we're starting to get it rolling with NAVI and we're a really good team to be. I feel good and I feel like things could always be better, let's put it like that, but at the end of the day, we're looking for a good finish here so we can start next year on a good note.
Photo: Michal KonkolHow has your relationship with B1ad3 developed in the time you've been with NAVI?
I think we've gotten to learn each other better with time, we spent a long time together at all of the tournaments doing stuff by ourselves and together with the team, getting to know the system. I feel like you need to have a good connection with the coach and what you're trying to accomplish and that's what we're doing, and it's been nice thus far.
What are the goals for next year or a timeline in which you think you can be at peak levels with w0nderful?
We still have a lot of work to do, no matter how this tournament goes. I think next year will have a hectic start because there are qualifiers for the Major, BLAST Groups, IEM Katowice, and then potentially the Major, so everything is back-to-back.
I feel like we just have to recharge our batteries and go into next year with a plan in mind and that's what we've spoken about with our psychologist to plan out the start of next year, and I hope we can follow something for a while to see the progress for a while and see where we are after a couple of months.
Obviously, we just need to play better. We need to be better, we need to expect more from each other, and we need to do everything we can. I hope that we can take some time off to reflect so we can put it all into the start of the year.