B1ad3: "I still wanted to play this event with sdy and npl"

Natus Vincere's coach spoke about NAVI's struggles with the new lineup and Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi's progress.

Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy talked to James "⁠BanKs⁠" Banks in an interview before the BLAST Premier Spring Group C final between Natus Vincere and G2 and shared his point of view on changes inside the team.

When talking about issues they are facing following the departure of Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev and npl's permanent addition to the main team, the coach said he had originally planned for sdy to stay on longer so that the former academy member can be introduced into the team more gradually.

"I was expecting these [struggles] because, in my plans, I still wanted to play this event with sdy and npl," B1ad3 revealed. "I knew that if we remove sdy we will struggle with the map pool, because for a young player it's hard to play all the maps in such a short time and in new roles. I knew that it's better to still play Katowice and BLAST and then to see what we have."

After a sub-par performance at the BLAST Premier World Final, npl has shown a better face at the Spring Groups and looked particularly comfortable on Inferno — one of two maps he was brought in for when he first played in Abu Dhabi instead of sdy. Across three Infernos NAVI has played so far in Copenhagen npl recorded a 1.20 rating, compared to his 0.98 event average.

"We must always give a chance to young players and we must not criticize and judge them from one event. It's too early for them," B1ad3 said on the topic of criticism towards npl after his Abu Dhabi showing.

"At the moment, I like the dynamic of npl. If he keeps going like this, after Katowice he will be a different player. The dynamic is really good for such a young player, compared to what it was in Abu Dhabi."

B1ad3 also said the team is still exploring changes in roles. "We just tried to optimize positions on each side and we tried to help each player to get in his position, in his comfort zone, and to try to emphasize the strengths of a player. On CT side, it's pretty simple, b1t is now our main anchor. Other roles we are still experimenting."