electronic: "I still have flashbacks from the Major"

We sat down with Natus Vincere's Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov to talk about how the team is feeling after the Major, how close after it ESL One New York is, and what his team expects from the event in the USA.

electroNic's Natus Vincere were upset in their opening match by fellow CIS side Gambit, but were able to bounce back in the Group A elimination match against fnatic. They will now have to wait and see what Gambit and MOUZ do in the winners match before the elimination match tomorrow which they will play for a spot in the playoffs at the Barclays Center.

In the interview, electroNic goes over his team's Major run, losing the grand final to Astralis, what they hope to get out of New York, and their loss and wish for revenge against Gambit.

You made the Major final a few days ago, and are now here competing. Do you think the tournaments are too close?

The tournaments being so close makes it hard for me to forget about the Major. I still get flashbacks from that tournament, I remember the games, and while emotionally and physically I'm prepared, my brain is still working out those memories so it's hard to focus 100% on this tournament. One more day would have been perfect, but there isn't anything we can do about it.

After the match with Astralis there was some frustration on your side, has that caused some tension coming here?

Of course, getting to the finals at the Major was kind of a good achievement, but there's a big difference if you come out the loser or the winner. We got a good result, coming in second, but we were frustrated after losing the final because we played poorly individually and as a team. We came to this tournament with the feeling of losing that match still fresh, which makes it difficult for us to get back on track and play at the usual level we play. Our first game showed that we aren't at in our best form and not concentrated enough.

How important is it to get a good result in New York? Do you think you're the favorite?

Every tournament is important, this one is no different. We came here to do our best, as we always do, and try to win. As far as being favorites, according to the ranking we probably are, but this is CS and all of the teams here are very strong. Every game is important and we know that every team here can beat us, theoretically, so we're trying to concentrate as much as possible to win the tournament.

After you lost the first game, which was rough, you bounced back against to stay alive. What do you need moving forward to get back in shape?

It's very important to become a real team again, that we start playing as a team, so what we're doing now is practicing and talking about how to get back to our usual shape. That's one of the most important things for us at the moment.

You're playing the loser of Gambit vs. mousesports on Friday, do you have any preference? Would you rather take revenge on Gambit or face mouz?

Honestly, I'd pick Gambit. We know they've been having some roster issues so they were playing the game like they have nothing to lose. For them, it was easier to play against us, so I want a rematch because it will be good for our team and our confidence moving forward in the tournament, although it doesn't matter who we have to face because the goal is to win it all and it doesn't matter who we have to face next.