Aleksib: "We need to enjoy the game more; all these setbacks make you overthink"

NAVI's Major fate is not secured just yet after another group stage exit.

Natus Vincere came into Pro League needing wins. Having made all 24 Majors so far, missing PGL Singapore would be a damning indictment.

The team remain in a good position after picking up two victories here, and now have a 90% chance of qualifying even after bowing out of Pro League.

But Katowice was a chance to put that figure beyond doubt. Now, if a few results go against the black-and-yellow in Bucharest, they'll need to head back to the panic stations.

"I don't really feel the pressure," Aleksib told after the loss to PARIVISION . "Sure, in the next one, maybe we're going to face a situation where we're kind of backs against the wall, and maybe it's a different question then.

"But as of right now, I just don't feel it that way. We need to do our best the next one and hopefully reach the playoffs and go from there."

Watch or listen to the interview.

Okay, Aleksib, unfortunately, no playoffs. What do you think went wrong in that last map?

On the CT side, we started 0-5 or something. Didn't look that great. We ended up losing three rounds in a row where they had one guy alive, and I think they were pretty scrappy situations. So one of them could have gone our way, and maybe we could pick up a couple more rounds on the CT side. But overall, I feel like after w0nderful won that clutch for 11-10, we should be taking it over the finish line. Unfortunately, we didn't. We had a round with even double entry mid and 5-on-3, we just ended up losing.

And yeah, I don't know, we need to do our best to analyze this game, but I just think it feels bad since we showed a different NAVI this tournament. Sure, we didn't win top-five teams, but I think we should have made our way to the playoffs, but now we see another team there, so it doesn't feel so good.

Throughout this run, the games you've been losing have always been to pretty good teams. They've always been pretty close most of the time, apart from like one or two times. So what is it that's stopping you getting over that final hurdle?

That's a good question. I wish I could answer that properly, but I think that we are doing our best to fight in every game. We can win the opponent's map pick, or we can win our map pick and just kind of get demolished on the second one. But we just need to be somehow better on these deciders. I think that we dropped the ball a couple times, and yeah, we just need to do better.

I don't think there is really any magic to be done. We understand our situation. We need to take the next tournament as seriously as we took this one. Need to grind harder, need to try and make the best result there in order to qualify for the Major. And nothing is still stopping us in doing deep playoff runs in the last two tournaments other than ourselves. But we just need to overcome that and do the best.

Sorry, three tournaments. I forgot it's two before the Major roster lock. I mean the invitation. So we have PGL, Beijing, Major. And a bootcamp probably as soon as we realize our stage in the Major and overall situation. But yeah, my point still stands. We need to do our best the rest of the season and I think we're all hungry to make a playoffs run. It's been a while since, and we're just trying to do our best now.

And I did want to ask about Mirage because I think that's five in a row. Some of them have been close, but such a stronghold for so long. What do you think it is?

Obviously, some of the biggest takeaways are that maybe, like a lot of teams, when you are strong on one map, you're kind of maybe focusing on it a bit less than the others. So maybe that could be one of the details, but it could also be just the overall confidence of the players, and yeah. I don't know. I think a lot of things have been going pretty poor in our way.

Like, when we start the CT, we just get completely smashed. Sometimes we start T, and it feels like we never played this map, even though historically the T side was like one of our main strengths throughout the whole history of NAVI. So yeah, there's a lot of things to unpack, and I think that we just need to take all the positives and just try our best the next tournament.

And there are some positives. You started, what, number 27 in VRS? It's much higher now already. But the Major has to be hanging over you. So what is it like trying to play under that pressure?

Personally, I don't really feel the pressure. I think everyone understands that we have one tournament after each other. Sure, in the next one, maybe we're going to face a situation where we're kind of backs against the wall, and maybe it's a different question then. But as of right now, I just don't feel it that way, and I don't feel like the others feel it that way either.

So I just think that we need to do our best the next one and hopefully reach the playoffs and go from there, since that's something that the whole squad needs. I think we need to enjoy the game more, feel the passion more since all these hurdles and all these setbacks, it makes you overthink. It makes you do funny stuff in your head that you're not supposed to do, so we need to try our best to not let that happen.