Hey, friends! Something amazing happened recently: NAVI emerged victorious at BLAST!
We are all excited about it, and I'm sure it's not exactly news to you.
We couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about the tournament with Ilya perfecto.
- Hey. - Hi.
The other day marked a year of you at NAVI, and you celebrated it with a victory - your first one in 2021.
For our part, we presented you with this awesome hoodie from NAVI's collaboration with KSENIASCHNAIDER.
You can get the same one or one like I'm wearing at shop.navi.gg.
Putting advertising aside, let's talk about the game and your year with NAVI.
Did you celebrate that day or was there something special about it?
Symbolically, we won BLAST on the same day, and it was my way of celebrating it.
This is the best thing that could have happened.
What was going through your head in the first minutes after the win?
We all know what it is like on LAN, but what about online with everyone being at home? What was going on on your Teamspeak?
Everyone was shouting, but then we calmed down, and had a call on Discord where we talked about our journey.
We took it step by step focusing on the game we had at hand. We recalled all of them and wrapped up.
Then the social media spam started. As it always is.
And you spent half the night replying to every message?
- Not every, but some. - It feels good, right? - Awesome.
How has this year with NAVI been for you personally?
How have you changed as a person and as a player?
Has anything about your attitude towards esports and the game changed? Walk us through what's happened over the year.
I think I've become more professional, improving in various aspects, including media, which I hadn't done before.
Not that I'm really involved in it now, but still.
- We've got you covered! - Yeah. That's why I'm here.
Yeah, I've become more professional and improved my level of play.
We've been playing big tournaments all this time and I've gained experience of playing in the finals, and losing two in a row.
- It all was for the sake of winning the most important one. - True that.
Alright, let's talk about the tournament. Your first game was against Liquid, and it didn't go too well.
I think you tend to struggle with openers.
- Regardless of who we're facing. - Exactly.
We started picking up steam throughout the tournament, as we always do, and I have no idea why -
perhaps having had just come back after the break and not playing officials for a while.
We played our first game, learned from our mistakes and turned things around.
It was Liquid's first showing with Fallen who recently joined them.
He's clearly a legend and a pillar of CS:GO.
What kind of an impact do you think he's having on the team? Did you put in extra preparation knowing you were going to face a sniper of his caliber?
I think it's too soon to tell as they've just got together and practiced for a couple of days.
We knew Fallen didn't play Nuke in his previous team, but it turned out all Liquid did those days was practicing Nuke and Inferno.
We didn't expect them to be that well prepared.
Overall, I'm sure Fallen will be a huge asset to the team. His impact might not be evident yet, but I'm sure it will be in the longer run.
Your next game was against Complexity, and as far as I remember, it didn't go smoothly either - you lost Mirage and you had to come back from behind.
How did that series go?
I don't remember all of it, but I recall nothing was working out at first as we struggled to close our rounds even when outnumbering them.
We had a team talk following the first map loss. We focused on the mistakes and tried to bounce back, which we did.
The next one against G2 wasn't as challenging.
- We were turned up from the start. - You were.
Did it feel like you got in the zone during the game or did you do something prior - like special kind of preparation - that helped you get going?
We prepare for every game the same way and try not to underestimate anyone. Well, and not overestimate, too.
We hit the ground running once the game started and everyone was on the same page mentally, which got us fired up and we steamrolled them.
This momentum took you right into the finals and winning the whole thing.
Next, you had the mighty trio: taking revenge against Liquid, then Vitality, and Astralis.
Let's touch on Liquid a bit. Did you change anything ahead of the game? Or were you still going off the momentum and having revenge in mind?
We tried to ensure we didn't make the same mistakes we made in the first series.
The maps were the same and we knew why we lost the first time - we made fewer mistakes and won.
We realized it could be tough but we were capable of beating them if we played without mistakes.
Which we did.
Now let's talk about the final day. You had two series, which one do you think was more challenging?
The lower bracket final or Grand final?
Looking at the score, it's probably Vitality, but the whole day was challenging - two back-to-back series,
and we knew it wasn't gonna be a walk in the park regardless of the result.
According to what the community says and looking at the history, Astralis and Vitality are your biggest rivals.
You and Astralis go way back, and Vitality has joined the fray over the past year. Is that right?
Yes, I mean, the three of us were in the top 3 last year and always had intense encounters, so yeah.
It's always close against Vitality - they can beat us, we can beat them - but this time we were raring to win.
Even though we dropped one map, I was sure we were gonna win.
Let's talk map veto. Clearly, I mean, I think Inferno is your most comfortable map now. Is it so?
I think that would be Nuke - it's our main map now.
We prepared all of the maps, but Nuke and Inferno were our go-to this tournament.
Perhaps Dust, too.
We practiced Overpass so we could play against teams who pick it, like Complexity, and... Who beat us on it? Right, Vitality.
We made a number of mistakes as we didn't practice the map that much.
That being said, our Nuke is pretty strong now.
Though Nuke made it into your map pool just recently, right?
Yes. Andrew is developing his own meta, which I think is one of the strongest in the scene now.
I love Nuke.
Yeah, Nuke is a complex map and the perfect ground for Andrey's talents.
You beating Vitality generated two takes:
when a team makes the Grand final through the lower bracket, they have to play two Bo3's in a single day.
Some think it wears the team out, whereas their opponent is more focused and has more energy.
Others believe, including myself - based on what I've seen in other games -
the lower bracket team rides on momentum, like you did, smashing their opponent in the finals.
Is there logic behind it or is it more of a random thing?
It's controversial as different players might react differently.
We fully reset after Vitality with the help of our psychologist Gleb, and came into the next game with renewed vigour.
Other teams might have it differently - run out of steam or something.
In our case, it worked to our benefit as we were fired up and going off momentum. Everything worked out perfectly.
Heading into the game against Astralis, did you feel like you were facing your biggest rival and the best team in the world and it was your do or die time?
I didn't think about it at all.
Following our defeat against Liquid and struggling against Complexity,
I didn't care who we were facing as long as we didn't make mistakes and played our game.
The only thing is that Astralis punish you for your mistakes like no other team.
Nobody was hung up on it - we just wanted to make that last step, come out on top and go get our rest.
You mentioned making finals in 2020 and this was another one and again facing Astralis, though this time it was a Bo3 with the positive outcome.
Do you feel more comfortable playing a Bo3 final than a Bo5?
Big time.
Playing two different teams on a day still feels like a Bo5.
Yeah, but it's different.
Good thing we have B1t who can step in and take some of the load off, providing fresh firepower - on Inferno for now.
It's very helpful, especially in a Bo5 where you have to play 5 maps, keeping track of every little thing and staying fully focused.
Bo3 with your and your opponent's picks and a decider is easier this way.
Was Valera nervous playing this tournament? Did you support him?
It was his debut in the big scene and already a considerable achievement. What was it like for him?
Valera is a go-getter and he's absolutely fearless.
I remember what Sanya told him ahead of the final:
"Don't think of it as a final, it's just another game, another pracc. Don't fixate on becoming a champion and just play your game."
Valera did that with flying colors.
The T pistol round was insane.
Valera has fit right in. I mean, the anxiety was obviously there as it was his first tournament, you can't deny that.
But he handled it just fine.
- Was he excited after the finals? - Sure thing.
He was so loud I had to pull out my earphones.
I could hear him all the way from Tarasovka.
- Tarasovka? - He lives there.
- All the way to your home. - Yeah, I had to get up and close the window.
Petr1k, the best analyst according to cybersport.ru, posted that it was the biggest win in terms of prize money in the CIS, and speaking of online - in the world.
$600,000. That's a lot of money.
Did you think about it? Does the money factor give you extra motivation?
Was it on your mind while you were playing the finals? I mean, you could buy an apartment for that money, like Boombl4.
I was after the watch actually - I wanted to get one.
On a serious note, I never think about it during the game, but it's clearly great getting a bonus like that.
I don't think about it before or in the game, but when the money comes through, it's a big deal since I can help my parents.
- Is Kirill really going to get an apartment? - I have no idea.
Okay, we will find out. There've been rumors floating around about it.
I was surprised to hear it myself.
- You should ask Kirill. - We will.
Alright, what are NAVI's short term plans? What tournaments can we expect to see you in and when?
We want to make sure this tournament wasn't a one-off and set the NAVI era.
The goal is to win everything we can. There's going to be the next BLAST soon, and we are determined to do our best.
I think all of us are eager to keep winning.
- It was an amazing start to the year. - Aye.
Everybody was going mental just like last year in Katowice.
I wish you to keep up the good work, and hopefully, we finally get to have our Major and see you lift the trophy!
- Thank you for the interview. - Thanks. - Good luck.