nafany: "I can see that if Ax1Le has some struggles, sh1ro can fix it"

Cloud9's in-game leader discusses the Russian team's laborious road through the IEM Rio Major Challengers Stage, crowd pressure, and what lies ahead.

Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov spoke to HLTV.org after completing a recovery from a 0-2 start to the Challengers Stage, having kicked off their campaign in Rio with overtime losses to fnatic and Grayhound before securing three consecutive series wins against Imperial, Evil Geniuses, and GamerLegion.

The Russian in-game leader spoke at length about the team's issues, saying he believes the team got ahead of themselves by thinking they had already won.

"It was like a feeling that the enemy really wanted to win and we were like, 'we should win, so just lose to us?' he said. "Overall the main thing was that we should have wanted to win."

nafany went on to talk on the topic of the Brazilian crowd, which he believed "hated" Cloud9 following their victory over home heroes Imperial.

"It was surprising that the crowd even hated us. Even today, I heard that a lot of people were screaming like 'fuck you, sh1ro.' And it was the same versus Imperial."

Unbeknownst to the fact that Cloud9 are set to play FaZe in the first round of the Legends Stage, nafany also joked about the prospect of playing the Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen-led team and Liquid in the next phase - two matchups that they have faced several times in the past few months.

"I'm pretty sure as always we will play versus FaZe, Liquid, and no one new," he laughed. "The whole year we're not playing versus NAVI, we played them like 20 times last year and this year 0 times. I'm really tired to play versus FaZe and Liquid, please give us something else."

Read the full interview below:

It was a pretty tough road, having to come back with the three series wins in a row. How relieved are you? What are your feelings like?

Actually, I don't think like it's something special right now. As I can see, the guys are really happy, but for me, it was kinda - I don't think it was expected, but it was...

Necessary?

Yeah. It was just common for us because everyone expected it from us and we failed two times in best-of-ones and we were like 'okay, seems like we're not playing, let's play a different game.' And that happened.

So what do you think were the biggest issues that you had to overcome from those two opening losses? What did you need to address?

The main problem was that we maybe thought that we already won, or something like that. It was like a feeling that the enemy really wanted to win and we were like, 'we should win, so just lose to us?' But it didn't happen, obviously (chuckles). And we talked a bit after the Grayhound game, and we maybe didn't have perfect preparation before this tournament because of some issues, but overall the main thing was that we should have wanted to win.

Not the perfect preparation? Can you get into that?

It's secret information, so...

In those first losses you come back from big deficits in both of them against fnatic and Grayhound only to lose in overtime, and then you go into the Imperial game and you go into overtime again. How tough was that mentally, having to overcome the same big deficits and finally closing it out this time?

I can't say that it was really tough. I was a bit enraged after the Grayhound game because we only lost because sh1ro lagged out, so that was the main problem, in my opinion. Obviously, we went to OT, and we shouldn't have played this OT, but we had what we had. Let's say that it was good training for us for the future.

The game versus Imperial, I can say that for me it was surprising that the crowd even hated us. Even today, I heard that a lot of people were screaming like 'fuck you, sh1ro.' And it was the same versus Imperial. For me, it's a bit strange, because we're such a team that is maybe like young SK or Luminosity. A lot of us came from the bottom of the scene and are at the top, so in my opinion Brazilians should be like, 'yeah, let's go!'

But you were playing against their team, so of course they won't be happy.

Yes, but why today? GamerLegion isn't a Brazilian team, they are European. Not everyone was versus us like yesterday, but really a lot of people, so for me it's a bit surprising, but overall I can understand. We beat one of the more legendary teams. FalleN is a huge legend, and for now, it's obvious that some people will hate us.

There's always been this conception about your team in terms of performing on LAN, performing under pressure. Do you think, after having this experience of playing on the stage, this is still warranted? How much does the pressure get to you in these situations?

The first time when we faced versus such a crowd where everyone was versus us, it was NAVI at the [Stockholm] Major. We were a bit crushed, not only because of the crowd but also because of NAVI. For now, maybe it's because they speak Portuguese, but I just don't understand what they're screaming, so I just don't have any idea what they're screaming. I understand that they want Imperial to win, but I just hear they're screaming like, 'yay!' and things like that. Everything else I just don't understand, so for me, it's okay.

What about your teammates?

It seems like everyone really likes to play versus such a loud crowd. Maybe they have the same feeling about not understanding what people are saying, but let's be honest, 'fuck you, sh1ro' is pretty understandable.

He played great, yeah.

Yeah. But also, I need to mention that sh1ro is great at this tournament, one of his best tournaments since maybe last year.

Speaking of your individuals, Ax1Le has now made up for his slow start to the tournament, but what do you think was behind that and how much do you think his recovery helped you get back on track?

I'm not sure about Ax1Le, I can only say that he had some issues with his mouse. He's been playing this tournament on juanflatroo's and nqz's mouse and someone else, so it's a bit shaky for him. Also, maybe we didn't have such a great atmosphere inside the team, but it's not because we are arguing with each other. I can't even say how we're feeling inside the team, everyone expects a lot of things from us, and it's big pressure maybe, maybe because of it. But now I can see that if Ax1Le has some struggles, sh1ro can fix it by his work. And it's working. Also, it seems like I'm playing a bit better than before. Maybe my rating is still on the bottom, but I feel like I'm making a lot of good work and it helped us.

You were talking about expecting to go through the first stage easily, which obviously didn't happen. Now that you get into the second stage, where some of the big teams are coming in, what kind of expectations are you putting on yourself?

Actually, I don't think that for now I have any expectations. I'm pretty sure as always we will play versus FaZe [Editor's note: nafany didn't actually know at the time that Cloud9 will play FaZe in the first round of the Legends Stage based on final seeding], Liquid, and no one new. The whole year we're not playing versus NAVI, we played them like 20 times last year and this year 0 times. So, I believe that we will have some new opponent. I'm really tired to play versus FaZe and Liquid, please give us something else.

Especially Liquid, right?

I mean, for now, in my opinion, if one team beat the other many times, it's better for the team who is losing. It's more about Liquid, maybe it'll be tough for them to play versus us for now. But if we talk about FaZe, we beat them twice already, so maybe it's a big problem for us right now. We will see how it will go.