Perfecto interview: Cloud9 exit, international offers, and returning to NAVI roles

"I want to join a team where I'll be happy & everyone will be happy," 2022's Anchor of the Year tells HLTV.

Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy, a rare specialist reveling in support roles, is one of Counter-Strike's most intriguing available players this off-season.

The 24-year-old has been on Cloud9's bench since April, after a "mutual decision" to part ways with the team, and has been in no rush to find a new project since.

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Cloud9 bench Perfecto, HObbit

While supporting his girlfriend, who was working at YaLLa Compass in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of June, Perfecto swung by HLTV's microphone to give an update on what he is looking for in his next team.

Perfecto has been tentatively linked with Spirit by some Russian-speaking leakers — rumors he refuted —, and he took to his own Telegram to deny links to GUN5. Beyond the Russian-speaking world, there are also international options, something he admitted to entertaining.

Wherever he ends up, Perfecto wants a more defined role and is watching demos of support players on his break. "I play all of the B roles on FACEIT," he told us. "All in all, I’m returning to the form that I had in NAVI."

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Editor's note: This interview was conducted on June 9 in Russian and translated by HLTV staff.

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You've been living in Belgrade for quite some time now. Have you gotten used to life there? Does it help that quite a lot of people from the community live and spend time in Belgrade?

I've been living in Belgrade for two years now, renting an apartment. Overall, it fits me. It has become sort of a center for esports now. Russian-speaking talent, as well as many teams and players, live there because the ping is low and it's a country from which you can fly to events directly in an hour or two.

This is very convenient. It works for me. I don't plan on leaving because I play all the time. I play FACEIT a lot, even during the player break, and I can't imagine myself with 100 ping anymore as I had five years ago in Omsk. The ping is 20 to 25 in Serbia, and it's really cool.

What have you been doing since you got benched?

First of all, I watch every single tournament. I also watch demos because I plan on returning as a support player in the same roles I had when I played in NAVI: B anchor and lurker.

As you know, I had mixed roles in Cloud9. I AWPed sometimes, sometimes something else, and I don’t want to continue playing like that at all, so now I’m gaining experience and watching all of the tournaments. I play all of the B roles on FACEIT and, all in all, I’m returning to the form that I had in NAVI when I was a B anchor.

Now, this week [during YaLLa Compass], I decided to rest because there are tournaments. But after that, I’ll fly back and play again. I don’t have vacations, I like to work.

You left the active Cloud9 roster on April 22. Why did that happen? Was it your decision?

I can only say that it was a mutual decision. I won't reveal or say anything else.

electroNic left Cloud9 to join Virtus.pro in April. From the outside, it seems like his departure was a turning point for the future of that roster. Is it true?

I can't say anything about that, unfortunately.

Your team played without a full-time AWPer for quite some time. Was it worth trying, or was it a mistake?

I think we were always trying to find our game: fixing something, changing something. Sometimes, it worked, and sometimes, it didn't. I can't say whether something bad happened because of the AWP or not.

In general, as we can see, it is probably better to assemble a team with a sniper in a classic system. That’s just my opinion and not regarding the past [team].

As far as I remember, the only time a team with weird AWPers managed to win was Liquid with nitr0, but this never happened again in the history of CS, so that's that.

The Cloud9 roster seemed like a dream team, but ultimately, it didn't live up to the very high expectations the community had of it. Why didn't it work?

I can't speak about that.

You got benched at the same time as HObbit. Did you make this decision together?

No, it was not a joint decision. Perhaps, as an announcement, it appeared like the same decision, but I think it was actually a week and a half apart. So, no, we didn't do it together. We each had our own reasons.

Is it possible that you'll move to your next team with HObbit?

Look, you can't rule out anything in our world. Anything is possible. I think you'll see soon.

There were rumors linking you to GUN5, to which you publicly responded: "Thanks, of course, but definitely not GUN5." How do you feel about such speculations? Is it amusing or annoying?

It’s amusing as long as it’s in a certain context and in such a quantity that it won’t bother you. Obviously, I’m happy that the guys are winning something. I obviously follow the match results on HLTV, and I recently saw that they won against FURIA. But obviously, I don’t consider them as a team [for me]. I can just wish them good luck.

Speaking about teams you're considering, do you consider playing for an international roster?

Yes, I do. [laughs]

I can say that I do consider it, that's all.

Have you had any interesting offers yet, or are you waiting for the end of the season?

Yes, I've had some offers, and I hope there will be more. I can’t be specific here, but I am not in a hurry because I still have ambitions after NAVI. We didn't win much in Cloud9, so those ambitions carry over.

I don’t see the point in rushing. I want to join a team where I'll be happy, everyone will be happy, and we'll achieve something.

Is it true that your decision hasn't been made yet?

Yes, it depends on some factors. You will learn everything! I usually share some clues on my Telegram channel, so this definitely won’t go unnoticed, but I need time to think and I hope this [decision] will be made soon.

When do you think we'll see you on the server again?

I hope that it will happen right away, in the next season.

Lastly, there's a discussion going on about who has a better chance of becoming the player of the year: donk, m0NESY, or ZywOo. What do you think about that?

If we take the biggest events and look at the players' stats and the impact they have on their team — IEM Katowice, for example — then it's definitely donk.

But if we consider the entire season, I think I'd vote for m0NESY. He's a guy who can carry an incredible match to victory in difficult moments when teammates aren't playing well. In general, he's very consistent and he played more tournaments than donk, who missed many. So, if I look at consistency, I'll say m0NESY.