B1ad3: "We will become much better with the bootcamp, and have a chance to beat any team"

NAVI's skipper spoke to his team's struggles in 2025 and s1mple's return on FaZe after beating BIG in Astana.

Natus Vincere are one match away from locking in a playoff berth at PGL Astana after picking up wins over M80 and BIG, holding up to their status as one of the tournament favorites alongside Spirit.

It is, however, a status that NAVI hasn't held for much of 2025, and one that Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy's troops only have here due to Vitality, MOUZ, and Falcons all being absent.

The 2024 Team of the Year has struggled to show the kind of consistency that brought them to six consecutive grand finals with an increase in the overall level of competition, with B1ad3 admitting to HLTV his team aren't playing their best.

"The competitive level is huge, I think that is why we are losing," he said.

"But I agree that some matches this year, we played with less quality than we should have played, and I think that comes from hunger for sure, because you still need to be able to motivate yourself to the same level that it was before you won all these things the previous year."

The Ukrainian veteran also spoke about Natus Vincere's T side woes and Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev's return on FaZe in the full interview, which you can listen to on Spotify or read in full below:

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You got 2-0 victories here, and if we just look at the scorelines, you could say it looks comfortable, but it didn't look like that watching it, especially on the T sides. Are you satisfied with what the team has shown here so far?

Yeah, I'm satisfied because we're winning. Nobody is playing perfect, obviously, and I always expect us to struggle in some situations. I know that any team, if you watch the grand finals, there are also some sloppy things happening or weird mistakes, so we need to be ready for it to happen, not to tilt because of this, and just be ready to fix it, that's all.

But, yeah, obviously we are not in our prime shape, and we're just trying to improve with each match. We know that we are playing a seven-map pool, and you must work constantly every day after each match to balance everything.

I wanted to ask especially about the T sides. Because when you look at the stats, only b1t is still keeping up the same numbers from last year, while all of the other members dropped off a bit. Why do you think that is? Is it more system-based or is it just individuals not finding their confidence or their spot in the team right now?

I never analyze our game depending on statistics, it's hard because there are too many factors. It depends on which team you play, on what the focus was. Sometimes you can play the first match of the tournament, and you can be very sloppy, not confident, and hesitant. Or sometimes you're playing semis or something, and you're already warmed up at the tournament, and you're playing good. Like this factor. Also it depends on the map, on the game plan.

So for me, it's hard to analyze it like this, if somebody has [lower statistics] compared to before. But take, for example, our Falcons match. I think it was in Melbourne. We won 9-3 on T-side Mirage. What does it mean? It means we can play one map better than other maps, so maybe the problem is not in the specific player.

Maybe the problem is how we approach the map overall, how we approach the game, how well we are prepared. I think there are a lot of factors. So I can't confirm this, that we are dropping down in statistics.

You mentioned Melbourne. You took a bit of a break before Melbourne, but I guess you wanted to at least reach the playoffs there and fell short. I know in the last interview you did with HLTV, you mentioned a bootcamp, and how important that is for this team. Do you believe that will be enough to turn around your form ahead of the Major?

In Melbourne, I think we should have gone to the playoffs. I think we lost because I don't like this format at all, when you need to play two matches the same day. Nowadays, I think the level of competitiveness is much higher than 10 years ago, and for me, it looks weird when you play two BO3s the same day.

In terms of preparation, we usually spend like four hours per match if we have this time, and I think this is part of our system. We were playing blindly versus Liquid, and I think it affected us. Obviously they could prepare, but I think [there's a difference to] how confident we can be as a team compared to Liquid if we prepare.

A bootcamp will benefit anyone, any team is always like this. You can completely remake your stratbook, you are improving your weak maps, and it's always a huge boost, so obviously we are relying on it a lot. Can a bootcamp make us win tournaments? Or can bootcamp make us beat Vitality? I don't know.

Our competitive level is very high, and I think any team, I mean any team from tier-one, these prime teams who are top-five, let's say, can be a problem for us even if we play bootcamp. But at the same time, I believe that we can win. We have a chance to beat them, so I believe this. I'm truly confident that we can beat them, but I cannot guarantee that.

But at the same time, I know that a bootcamp is not a key to outplay them. We just [need to] improve our game. And then when you meet these kinds of teams in MR12, so many factors matter. You saw, for example, Falcons' last matches, they could have won both. There are very few margins happening, and that is something that you cannot control.

We can be prepared, have a good game plan, have interesting things, some new things to surprise any opponent, but at the end, what matters is these clutches or advantageous situations when pure mechanics and skill can matter. I think when you have these kinds of players in Falcons, Vitality, and Spirit, that can be a huge factor. But overall, I believe that we will become much better with the bootcamp, and have a chance to win against any team.

I wanted to also ask about the recent community settlement. You guys obviously showed a very high level last year, and this year you were only eliminated by Spirit, Eternal Fire, and The MongolZ before Melbourne. Otherwise, you always beat the teams that you are supposed to beat. Do you feel like the community is maybe overreacting about your underperformance a bit?

I think the community is always overreacting on any topic, that's for sure. For them, any provocative topic can be a joy. But yeah, maybe you are right that we have, maybe 90% of the time, beaten the teams that we should, who are lower than us in the rankings.

We must understand that the previous year was not so easy for us, we were struggling in a lot of tournaments, and a lot of matches were really close. A very huge factor is that, in my opinion, when you are playing in grand finals, a lot of other teams are watching you, and I think they are learning from you.

Somebody can say, 'No, we didn't know,' but it happens automatically. People copy from each other. We played a lot of grand finals the previous year, and I feel it when we are playing and preparing for other teams. The scene changes. They are playing more, much better than before, in terms of meta at least, and in terms of little protocols and little reactions, they know more than before.

So I think they studied, and we can say that the teams that played in the grand finals the previous year improved the whole scene. And now, what is Vitality doing? I think they are pushing others to the limits, forcing other teams to become better, identical to what Astralis did with their era also. I think it is a natural process. We are now in our evolving process, other teams are in their evolving process. And we are just trying to find our best game.

We are in the process, and we are constantly fixing, trying to find something new. The competitive level is huge, I think that is why we are losing. But I agree that some matches this year, we played with less quality than we should have played, and I think that comes from hunger for sure, because you still need to be able to motivate yourself to the same level that it was before you won all these things the previous year.

So this is also a huge factor, and we are constantly speaking about this. We are just trying to work with the guys. The previous year and the past, no matter what status you have, you need to fight for any match, any opponent can be an obstacle or a contender.

I also want to ask about one of your ex-players, s1mple. He recently returned on FaZe. I know you previously said that you would like to see him drop down a few levels, try to grind back up, but he once again joined a team similar to Falcons as a Hail Mary ahead of the Major. What do you think about that move overall?

When I said about s1mple joining a tier-two, tier-three team, I meant that if he couldn't join tier-one. I would not waste time, I would rather play on any team in the top 30 and just grind.

He has this X-factor for sure, but it's crucial nowadays to know the meta. This is important, and that's why I think he needs to spend a lot of time now, before the Major, if he wants to show his best and be a huge danger for other teams. I think he must know a lot about today's meta, and also all the maps. So yeah, he needs to gain a lot of knowledge, and then we know how he can play.