NAVI was upset 0-2 by Legacy in the EWC Round of 16 and eliminated unexpectedly. After the match, an official vlog was released, where players admitted during their review that "communication in critical moments didn't meet our own standards." Severe mistakes appeared right from the pistol round on the first map, Inferno; they knew early that the opponents were attacking B site but failed to defend it. Subsequently, they reacted too slowly in multiple key rounds and were suppressed by the opponents. They acknowledged, "We didn't make it difficult enough for our opponents," but also emphasized that they would not dwell on the defeat—"If you want to win the championship, you can't keep dwelling on the past. The season has just begun, and tomorrow is a new day to keep moving forward."
Q: Alex, I'm sorry to have to conduct this interview after such a defeat. But we want to know what went wrong today—why couldn't you even beat such a straightforward opponent?
Aleksib：We had a brief chat after the match, but there wasn’t enough time to go through every round in detail. The biggest issue was: our communication during key moments fell far short of our standards. For example, on Inferno's first round, we knew they were going B, we stacked B, yet we still failed to hold them off and lost that round. There were many similar rounds—like when we anticipated a fast A execute, but got wiped out immediately because we reacted too slowly.
We did read some rounds correctly, but we couldn't suppress them. I feel they were more prepared than us at critical moments, and instead, they restricted us. We didn't create enough difficulty for them—that's entirely our problem. You could say it was insufficient preparation or other reasons, but we just looked at a few rounds and realized we had actually read them right. However, our communication wasn't detailed enough, leading to confusion about who was throwing flashes, who was defending against them, and what each person was supposed to do. As a result, we lost all the most crucial rounds. Simply put, we just weren't good enough.
Q：This time in the ban-pick phase you left Cache open, but previously you've banned this map. How would you evaluate your training on Cache?
Aleksib：It's hard to say before playing official matches, because scrims and official games are completely different. The issue is, the opponents you face might have never played this map, so you can't prepare against a team you know nothing about. But personally, I really like Cache; I've played it before. Among my teammates, maybe only IM has played it. But that doesn't matter. I think the new players adapt to new details very quickly. Cache wasn't the most popular map in CSGO, but if it stays in the map pool, it will become more and more popular.
Q: It seems like makazze's personal form has declined a bit recently, and he's not as aggressive as before. What do you think is the reason?
Aleksib: I'm not sure if he's actually playing more passively than before, but overall I'm not too worried about him, because I know what kind of person he is both on and off the field. When he brings energy and positivity, he is a crucial part of our team. He's not afraid to speak up, doesn't fear dying, and doesn't hesitate to push with a suboptimal weapon to create space for his teammates. I know how hard he works, and the gains and losses of one or two tournaments are not important in the grand scheme of a career. I'll do my best to help him get back in form; I'm not worried about him.
Q: Do you have any conclusions from your review so far?
Aleksib: The review time is actually limited. After arriving here, we only discussed for about 45 minutes because we also need to hold a signing session for new fans. Next, we will have three full days of training, during which we will figure out what went wrong and what was done well. But ultimately, no matter how well we perform in practice matches, the real test comes when we play the official match next time—when the pressure returns, and everything must be executed perfectly. We need to regain the form that allows us to compete for the championship. Saying "we should have won" now is meaningless; we didn't even make it to the quarterfinals. We simply have to do better, reach our peak together, and then we will have the ability to contend for the championship.
Q：Do you have anything you want to say to the fans?
Aleksib：It's always happy to see new fans. When someone shows us a photo taken together three or four years ago, we can feel that they are true long-time fans. I think it's important to stay positive and see the bright side even during low points. Although this tournament fell completely short of expectations, we've put in a lot of effort and won't stop. We'll continue practicing tomorrow. The season is still young, and if we want to win the championship, we can't keep dwelling on past losses. We must focus on what lies ahead.