Aleksib: "We just have to switch our mindset because right now, it is not there"

"You're able to lose two times and still go through to the playoffs and that's what we did last time, so I'm never going to count us out," NAVI's captain said after a tough day two loss to Spirit.

Reigning Major champions Natus Vincere are on the brink of elimination at the Perfect World Shanghai Major after losses to MIBR and Spirit, managing just two rounds against the latter after Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy and Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov recorded the lowest-rated map of their careers.

"I felt like [Spirit] were just freely roaming the map doing whatever they wanted," Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen told HLTV after the defeat. "If we play like this, the results are going to be like this."

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NAVI in danger in Shanghai after Spirit stomp

The European combine has been in dominant form for much of the year since their dark horse run to the trophy in Copenhagen, winning three additional titles and making six finals in a row before bowing out in the group stage at BLAST Fall Final.

Conversations around whether a second Major title could establish this year as the NAVI era started playing out before the tournament in Shanghai, but Natus Vincere now face an uphill climb with no extra lives left and two best-of-threes between them and the bracket stage.

"If you're given lifelines, I'll always take them.," Aleksib said. "You're able to lose two times and still go through to the playoffs and that's what we did last time, so I'm never going to count us out and I'm going to do the most I can to secure a win tomorrow and the day after."

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

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Down 1-2 after a brutal game against Spirit. Tell me how you're feeling after that.

It's hard to describe the moment. I feel like they completely outplayed us. There were two rounds we won and in freezetime we were saying like, 'That's the round we needed, we just need to string together rounds now and come back into the game,' but they never let us do it.

I felt like they were just freely roaming the map doing whatever they wanted. If we play like this, the results are going to be like this. Today it didn't matter if it would've been a best-of-three or a best-of-one, they just outclassed us and that's how it goes sometimes.

You had a bunch of days off between the RMR and this group stage, you had time to practice. Coming back and starting down 1-2, being on the brink of elimination now, what's going through your mind with that?

We practiced a lot, we reviewed a lot. For me, we did very good work and preparation coming into this Elimination Stage. Yesterday we gave MIBR way too comfortable of a lead and couldn't make the comeback, ended up in 1-1, faced Spirit now and obviously lost.

But you know, if you're given lifelines, I'll always take them. You're able to lose two times and still go through to the playoffs and that's what we did last time, so I'm never going to count us out and I'm going to do the most I can to secure a win tomorrow and the day after.

Coming into this Major, you are one of the favorites. Last Major you weren't, you were this dark horse, it was called a 'fluke win' by some. Coming here and having the chance to go back-to-back, potentially establish a 'NAVI era,' has that pressure gotten to you at all?

I don't think it brings us any pressure like, 'We should win now,' or anything like that. We just need to lift the spirits now because being 1-2 and being demolished like this wouldn't feel good even if we weren't the favorites.

We just have to face reality, we need to work hard today and tomorrow, we need to play like it's our last game, because we wouldn't be happy losing in the quarters. So nothing else matters other than securing the win tomorrow and the day after, and starting the playoffs strong.

That's the goal and I fully trust the fact that we can do it, we know we can do it. We just have to switch our mindset because right now, our mindset is not there, so we just need to shift the momentum.

When you say your mindset is not there, what do you mean?

The brutal loss now is kinda swaying my mind, but we just have to have the killer instinct tomorrow. We need to feel how it feels to be in the driver's seat because the past two games now we've just been struggling, we need to go into the front seat, show the opponent what we're made of, and show ourselves what we can do because right now, we're not showing it.

You're not the only favorites to have suffered a loss, there are a lot of teams that people expected to go 2-0 or make the playoffs that ended up in the 1-1 pool. What do you think is behind these results, is it that there's been so much time since your last games, these other teams are warmed up, or what?

I don't think there is a massive reason for it. The opening day having two best-of-ones in one day, having a four-hour break in between where you'll only know your opponent when the last game finishes, is not perfect in terms of preparation.

It's a best-of-one in the end, it could be a bit random at times, but to be honest I don't think it's a big thing. This is the format now, everybody knows it, and as I told you, you can lose and still make the playoffs. So for me, it's all good, we just need to step up now.