Aleksib on NAVI's post-Major slump: "It felt like we lost ourselves"

Aleksib acknowledges how important a good tournament run is after NAVI's slump raised doubts about their credentials as an elite team.

Natus Vincere shocked the world at PGL Major Copenhagen by making a majestic run all the way to the trophy while beating out plenty of sides favored ahead of them. Since then, however, form has been hard to come by, with Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius admitting to motivation issues in a recent interview.

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jL: "I got humbled at Dallas and EPL; I really want to win again"

Natus Vincere have gone some way to dispelling criticisms at the BLAST Premier Spring Final, powering their way to the grand final off the back of some stellar T sides and by sharing the fragging load across the entire squad.

With a confident semi-final victory over Virtus.pro under his belt, Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen gave an interview about the nature and importance of their excellent run in London, what turned things around for the squad, and their powerful offensive halves.

If you cannot see the SoundCloud embed above, listen to the full interview here.

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How are you feeling being back in a grand final?

Feeling good. I think VP are a team that sometimes have been difficult for us, and I'm just really happy because of the last two tournaments, they have gone so poorly for us. We made a full 180, played a tremendous tournament so far, but we just need to show up in the final as well.

I wanted to ask about that. You had the massive high of the Major and came crashing down to earth with the previous two tournaments. What do you think has turned it around for you?

Mostly, the preparation. I feel like the week we put in before coming here was really tough in terms of the schedule we had. We had very long days, but in the end, we felt like we were clicking again individually and as a team.

Something felt so off during the past two tournaments for us, and we also felt like the preparation for Dallas, for example, wasn't the best, and we weren't doing the best in practice either.

As I said, we've kind of flipped it around, and it feels good when you practice and play well; you feel like the whole package is there.

I wanted to ask about your T sides this tournament. You've got the best win rate on the T side by a large margin. What do you think is going so well on the offensive side?

We were really confident in our T sides at the Major, as well, but I felt like we kind of lost ourselves and lost the system we need to perform in because our game doesn't work if we're not sharp in all the details we have.

As we've stated in many interviews, I don't feel like our team is working around one player, we need to feel the dynamic together, and once we connect or once we click together, everything is going well. That's what we showed today.

I wanted to ask about that first map, specifically. Obviously, it was a crazy blowout. You were incredible, particularly in that first half. Were you expecting to be able to run over them like that?

Not like that, to be honest, but as soon as it was 4-0 or 5-0, with the full economy in our hands, I felt like it was pretty hard not to dominate the half because of how I felt everyone was communicating. We were super calm in every detail we were doing.

It just felt like we were going to 12-0 this side. I even called that they were going to push the Mid smoke in the last round. I turned around for a split second, and they blinded me, and electroNic killed me [smiles].

I was just laughing in my head because it would have been the final nail in the coffin if we had predicted that one. In the end, they got some rounds on the board, but we were confident we were going to close it out, so it was all good.

As I mentioned earlier, the Major victory was a real high, but how important was it to prove that it wasn't a fluke or a one-off? To get to another grand final and maybe win another tournament before the break?

It was super important, but at the end of the day, the work we did during the Major and the preparation we did for the Major spoke volumes to me. I knew the work we did before lifting that trophy, and I knew that we were capable of doing it again if the circumstances were there.

At the same time, I want to perform in every tournament, and the last two tournaments, there are no excuses for them. We were just not the NAVI we were used to, but it's really good for yourself and for the team to remind each other how we could play because now, with the work we did before coming here and the officials we are playing now, everything is just working out. But Spirit is going to be a tough one in the final.