headtr1ck: "I want to get experience in big stadium matches"

Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov, one of many products of the NAVI youth setup, sat down with HLTV after his debut for Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Ninjas in Pyjamas have been put in a tough group at BLAST Premier Spring Groups, getting pitted against Natus Vincere in the first round. They showed encouraging signs in their first outing but eventually had to concede defeat to the Ukrainian powerhouse.

New addition headtr1ck showed some impressive plays, especially on the second map of Mirage, where he racked up 30 kills after the map finished 19-17 in Ninjas in Pyjamas's favor.

The 18-year-old shared some thoughts about his first game in the Swedish organization after his debut, alongside his wishes for the future.

First of all, condolences about the loss. How did it feel to make your debut for NIP?

I felt excited about playing because it was our first official match, and I think it was a good match to get started. There were two close maps, first and second, but the third was a bit bad from us, like we didn't know how we should work and what we should do. I think we just didn't play on the last map like we spoke before in preparation. So if we will listen to each other more, we will play better.

So you lost the first map in Inferno, did you feel any nerves coming into the game?

No, to be honest, I didn't feel nervous. I knew that I needed to show myself in a good way. But I still understand that it's my first match and it's our first Inferno. It's a good map by NIP overall, but I feel like on the CT side we felt under pressure. Maybe we were playing scared, we didn't want to fight them. I think it was a big mistake because we had an advantage on the side. So next time we should play more aggressively, I think. We will check the demo and do work, so we can be ready for next time.

The second map was Mirage, where you had a much better individual performance, I think you had 30 kills in the end. Is Mirage more of a home map to you?

Yeah, first because I played Mirage a lot before and I feel like it's more of an open map because wherever you go you need to get contact with the AWP, and I think it's a good map for us, especially now at the start. For example, if you're stuck on the site on Overpass, it's very hard to kill them when they're executing, and it's hard to kill more than two sometimes and to do some multi-kills. So I like Mirage a lot more, and I felt like we played way better than on the other two maps.

So the third map didn't go your way, but can you take some positives from the game today?

I think it was a great game because everyone now wants to play and improve even more. Everyone wants to fix mistakes and if we fix them we will come back stronger for sure.

You played against your previous organization and your ex-teammate npl. How was it to meet him on the server?

It was fun. They have a bit of a hard playstyle to play against because they sometimes do an execution, sometimes they just do a contact play and it's hard to predict them. But npl, I think he showed good play and I think he just needs time.

What are your goals like for the season, with Katowice and EPL just around the corner? Are you looking forward to playing on the stage in front of a crowd?

Yes, of course. I want to get experience in big matches in the stadiums, and on the stage with viewers. I feel like we should become better every tournament because I need to take experience from the losses and victories. And I just want to be consistent, be on my best level, always try to help the team, and let's see what will happen.