Perfecto: "I had many good invites, but sometimes it's about buyouts, sometimes it's about roles"

"I need to have faith in the team and know the players," he added. "There were multiple invites like this, and all of them fell through not because of me."

Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy has been on Cloud9's bench since April, sitting out the majority of 2024 after a "mutual decision" to part ways with the super team formed by the organization with his and Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov's additions in the summer of the previous year.

In June, 2022's Anchor of the Year told HLTV that he was taking time to consider offers while on the bench and wanted to return to his anchor roles from Natus Vincere. He hoped to land on a team after roster shuffles during the end-of-year tournament break, but wasn't in a rush to find a team.

"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," Perfecto had said.

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

However, nothing materialized at the start of 2025, and the Russian rifler still finds himself without a team with the new season underway. Speaking to HLTV after the HLTV Awards Show in Belgrade — in an interview almost entirely in English — Perfecto admits that some concern was starting to creep in.

"Yes, I'm worried a little bit," he says. "Because you know, the meta changes, every day it's changing. You can play FACEIT yeah, it's good, but you need more practice in competition [team CS]. That's one thing I'm scared about."

The 25-year-old has remained active on FACEIT and plays Counter-Strike daily to stay in form, but still hasn't landed on a team despite fielding international offers and being willing to step down to tier-two.

"I need to have faith in the team and know the players. There were multiple invites like this, and all of them fell through not because of me," Perfecto says, citing what he believes to be a high buyout from Cloud9 and a mismatch of roles as hurdles.

"I'm ready for every invite if it's coming, and I'm just continuing to play Counter-Strike and trying to get on a team."

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

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We're here in Belgrade, it has been an interesting off-season. There was an interview we did with you in June where you said that you had some offers but were waiting to see what all would happen. You didn't end up on a team, at least at the moment, so what was the off-season like for you, what happened?

There were offers, but it didn't turn out the way I wanted. There were many offers that went nowhere. But at the moment I'm playing CS daily and waiting for something better.

Of course I lack some practice, but I think that with my experience I can go straight back into the tier-one scene anytime. Yesterday, when the HLTV Awards were happening I just played on FACEIT, so I'm ready at any time to play Counter-Strike.

You were benched back in April, so it has been a while since we've seen you play. When we interviewed you before, you also said you were playing FACEIT a lot and were still trying to keep up with everything, but when we see players that are out of action this long, sometimes it's hard to come back. Not only in terms of playing, but even just getting into a team. Are you worried at all?

Yeah, a little bit worried because... you know, there are many [reasons] I am not playing right now. I can't say about everyone because I'm still on a Cloud9 contract, so I can't say anything about that, but if you're asking about me — yes, I'm worried a little bit.

Because you know, the meta changes, every day it's changing. You can play FACEIT yeah, it's good, but you need more practice in competition [team CS]. That's one thing I'm scared about. But when I was playing in the tier-one scene, it was still the same as now. Just the game changed (laughs), but other things didn't change, so I think I'm ready. I need like one week and I'm ready to play.

Back then there were also these links to whether you could join Spirit, there was a rumor about GUN5 that you said wasn't true. Can you tell me about some of the talks surrounding where you could go and what your opinion was around then?

I can only say I was never going to GUN5, but I don't want to talk about other invites because if it didn't happen, I can't say anything about it. But I'm ready for European [invites] as well because now I am learning English more and more, and I just need to practice. If I join a European team I'd need a little bit of time to be comfortable, but I'm ready for those invites as well so... let's wait some more (laughs).

Obviously we saw Spirit win the Major, we had donk win Player of the Year, and there is this new generation of talent coming up as well. How do you look at that while you're sitting on the sidelines since these players eventually eclipse the old generation?

donk is an amazing guy, he's from Siberia as well. I remember, I have a friend who makes tournaments in Tomsk, and donk is from Tomsk. The new generation is amazing but you know... before when I was playing in tier-one — and I still want to play in tier-one but... (smiles wryly) — I did not need to be the superstar because my roles were just anchor, lurker, B anchor.

So I'm not scared about the new generation because all the new guys, I mean the little guys who just started playing Counter-Strike, they want to be a superstar. Not for me, I just want to win tournaments, so I'm not scared about the new generation. But they're fucking good (laughs).

There are a lot of players who want to be superstars, but Spirit, for example, has zont1x who is willing to play those kinds of roles. He received some criticism during the year and there were conversations in the community about whether you would replace him, regardless of whether that was an actual thing or not. Seeing him under that pressure, how he played, and then watching him win the Major — what are your thoughts on that?

In my opinion, it is not only donk that won the Major, it's the whole team. So if zont1x played bad sometimes, magixx can play better, you can see how they played very good in the final of the Major. We're talking about the team.

When I saw how they played in Shanghai, I was very happy for those guys because sh1ro and chopper are my friends so I want them to win the Major. I don't care about if I'm not going to Spirit because they won, I don't care because it is my friends who won the Major, it's very nice.

You said you're still contracted to Cloud9. Are you able to share when that contract is until? Because you said in our last interview you couldn't speak about your time there and you mentioned it here as well.

I think I still can't talk about that. I can't say anything about my contract.

With that in mind, has a limiting factor been a buyout during this period, or is it more about the offers that have come in for you?

I can say yeah, the first thing is a high buyout — it's my opinion, I don't know, like I can only say my opinion because I don't know what actually happened, I don't have the full information from Cloud9. So yeah, I think it's a high buyout because I had many good invites, but sometimes it's about buyouts, sometimes it's about roles.

I don't know, just shit happens because there's many chances, but it's lost. You know, I'm ready to play for every team — not GUN5, yeah? (laughs) — just a normal team because I don't care, if I believe in the team I can play for anyone.

You said earlier that you would love to return to the tier-one scene, and obviously you played there for a long time, won a Major, and played well. But are you willing to take a step down to be able to come back?

Sure, sure. If I need to step down, yeah, I'm ready. Because it's life you know, I'm ready to do everything [to return]. I haven't played in half a year — I mean in the tier-one scene, I play Counter-Strike every day — so if I need to step down, yeah, I'll do it. I don't care about that.

You said you're willing to take international offers, your English is quite good now, and you're willing to take a step down. But when you had this off-season, nothing materialized, is that because you weren't getting the right offers you wanted even with that criteria in mind?

Yeah, sure. I had invites from European [teams] as well, but there were no such offers that I would have accepted for myself. The money doesn't matter a whole lot, that's not what I'm going for.

I need to have faith in the team and know the players. There were multiple invites like this, and all of them fell through not because of me. Which is why I'm still without a team, unfortunately.

You said you hoped to return for this season, now it seems like you might have to wait longer. Whether that is a month or until the next off-season, nobody really knows. How do you feel about that uncertainty?

I would say like before. I can wait, I'm ready for every invite if it's coming, and I'm just continuing to play Counter-Strike and trying to get on a team.