makazze on having a trophy: "It's not tier-one but at least it gives me confidence"

NAVI's StarLadder StarSeries Fall victory helped makazze build some belief.

Natus Vincere have followed up on their confidence-building StarLadder StarSeries Fall campaign by opening their account at ESL Pro League with a win over Aurora, taking the series in comfortable 2-0 fashion.

Drin "⁠makazze⁠" Shaqiri told HLTV that the victory over Aurora, which featured a comeback win on Dust2, was an important start. "It means, for us, a lot."

The rifler went on to say just how important Natus Vincere's previous tournament outing, a trophy-winning campaign at StarLadder StarSeries Fall, has been for him personally. "To be honest for me it means a lot. Even though it's not tier-one I just joined NAVI two months ago, so it means something that I achieved it."

makazze spoke with HLTV to give his thoughts on his team's opening game at ESL Pro League and provide insight on what it has been like settling into his new team.

You can listen to the interview here.

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You've started off with a win here at EPL, a comeback against Aurora on the second map. What does it mean to start off with a win like this?

It means, for us, a lot. We won StarLadder, it was not a tier-one tournament I would say, but it gave us a bit of confidence for sure because we won something. We went to prac and I think the prac was good, and we were just ready for this tournament. We started good, we started with a win, so I am happy.

Tell me about that comeback, obviously you had a really good map overall. Tell me about that experience and pulling that off.

To be honest I knew that we were gonna come back. When I did the ace on the pistol round on T side, I knew that maybe we were not gonna win, but at least we were gonna come back. In the end we closed the win.

You mentioned the StarLadder win and I know that after you guys won the trophy, in an interview you said it was a chance to build some confidence. To have that now in your back pocket, to have a title, how does that change things?

To be honest for me it means a lot. Even though it's not tier-one I just joined NAVI two months ago, so it means something that I achieved it. It's not tier-one but at least it gives me confidence as a player individually.

What's your experience been like now that you're a bit more integrated into the team? You had the youth experience in NAVI Junior, but it's very different on this stage, right?

Of course it's different, for sure. I would say from NAVI Junior to main team [the difference] is for sure the teamplay, the protocols, and a lot of stuff. It's just tier-one, you need to get used to it, it's a big difference for sure.

Not everyone is able to get used to it, how are you finding it?

I'm still not very used to it, I still need some time I would say, but at least I'm playing good for this game. Let's see what's going to happen in the others.

Do you think your surpassing expectations, whether that's yours, B1ad3's or the community's?

I don't know. Maybe, maybe.

You have players like donk who have made the jump up who are prodigies, they are in a class of their own, but not every player can hot the ground running. Is there something you are doing that has made the transition easier for you?

No.

With this EPL result you are 1-0 now. It's a pretty competitive field of teams here, and this is essentially the last event that has all of these teams before the Major. What is yours or NAVI's expectations and goals for this, considering you are coming off a title win?

Maybe playoffs or semi-final, or to win. For sure it is to win, but for me it's playoffs. What's gonna happen after playoffs, for me, is going to be fine.