headtr1ck on npl: "I feel that he became a better leader, and he's also playing better individually"

The Ukrainian sniper waxed lyrical about his in-game leader.

B8, longtime contenders to make it to Counter-Strike's biggest stage, will get their chance in the expanded 32-team Major in Austin, with Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov's experience and Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi's leadership leading the way in a squad that averages just 20 years of age.

One of the keys to B8's success, who go into Stage 1 of the Major as one of the top-ranked teams, is the fact that four of the players have been together for over a year, with newcomer Artem "⁠kensizor⁠" Kapran having joined at the beginning of the year. "We're not changing players, and I think that's important to build something in the team," headtr1ck says.

The Ukrainian sniper also took time to praise npl's in-game leadership. "I'm enjoying playing with him, and I think he has a really good future overall as an individual and captain if he keeps going," he says of his 19-year-old teammate.

Date	Matches
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025 Stage 1
03/06/2025	B8 18:15 Imperial	Match

First up for the Ukrainians during the opening round of the Major will be Imperial in a best-of-one match at 18:15 to get their journey through the Swiss stage started.

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You're here at the Major after so many RMR heartbreaks. How does it feel to finally make it?

It feels good, it's also my first time in the USA. Hopefully we'll show some great stuff here.

Talking about your previous RMR results. It got pretty close this time against Astralis in the 2-2 pool. Did it cross your mind that you might miss out by a small margin yet again?

I was pretty sad after the first game because my two previous RMRs were 0-2, and I thought I was cursed. This one it was 0-2 as well, but we stepped up and figured out that we need to do better mentally and game-wise. So yeah, I'm happy it came out that way.

Was the mental block the biggest thing that you had to overcome to finally get to a Major?

No, the first time was the hardest one, when we got eliminated 0-3. Then the second time I didn't get that sad. And this time I was like, 'If it happens, it happens.' I was just a bit sad because before we were playing well, and now we were again, and we showed some bad results in the first game.

But also I understood that it was a best-of-one, and we could have won the second game, for example, against SAW, as it was overtime. I also understood after the second day when we won PARIVISION, who were, in my opinion, the strongest team there against us... When we play against them, they are the hardest for us, and when we play different teams, their game style is not as triggering as PARIVISION's. So I was believing that we still can do it.

This year has been your best so far in your career, at least stat-wise. Do you feel like you're improving every year and that you're at the top of your game?

Yeah, I think, like, with NIP it was a rollercoaster, but right now, I feel we have a consistent structure in the team because we have kind of a stable roster. We're not changing players, and I think that's important to build something in the team.

And, individually, I just feel that everyone stepped up, and me personally as well. I'm feeling more comfortable, more confident, and trying to balance the aggressive or passive styles more. I'm feeling better, that's for sure.

Your IGL, npl, is quite a young player as well. How is it playing under his system? Do you feel like you get the freedom to do your moves? Because he's an IGL but also a star player, so how is it balancing everything?

I think that he's working pretty hard in that direction [IGLing]. When we were just starting playing with him, he was calling the main rounds, but everyone else was saying a lot as well. Right now I feel that he became a better leader than he was, and he's also playing better individually, which is very important for his role, his captain mood, and management.

I'm actually enjoying how he's thinking, and I've noticed that he has pretty good game sense and game understanding. Maybe it came from NAVI, but of course he has been improving that in B8 as well. I'm enjoying playing with him, and I think he has a really good future overall as an individual and captain if he keeps going.

And I also wanted to ask about kensizor. Last year, he played for kONO, a lower-ranked team, and he had really, really good stats. But since he came into B8, they kind of dropped off a bit. Do you think that's because he needs to adapt to higher competition, or maybe there is something that changed role-wise?

Yeah, of course. Before he was playing against lower-tier opposition, and his first match [in B8] was against G2 with m0NESY, and of course it's a huge difference when you're playing against better teams. He didn't feel that comfortable when he joined, but now I feel that he's trying to implement the things he likes to do in FACEIT games and in the teams before.

So I feel that he's way more comfortable right now, but I think it's a natural drop-off when he joined. It's just a different atmosphere, different team, different level of the opposition you're playing, which is very important to adapt to that style, and I think he's improving.

The other three members are very inexperienced. Is your and npl's role to help them get used to LAN tournaments, to teams that punish you more when you go for moves?

I think everyone understands what's going on. It's not that we are just two experienced players, and they don't understand what's going on. But if we speak about teams, you need to understand some key details. For example, if you play against good teams, they won't prepare that much against your style. They'll try to play their game and just be good with their details. So, of course, we are helping, and our coach is helping, as well.

B8 is one of the highest-ranked teams in Stage 1. What do you want to achieve at this tournament?

I wouldn't say that we have that many expectations, because we figured out that maybe it's not the best to put some expectations. We did it for the Shanghai RMR and in previous tournaments, and we were just bumped out in two days. [laughs]

Maybe we just need to… It sounds simple, but play our game and just enjoy it. We already did a great job at the MRQ, and it was very hard and tense. After we had some great tournaments, and now we need to be able to finish a great season and hopefully show some great results.