dastan: "I need to be patient and try [for us] to be a stable tier-1 team as fast as possible"

"Right now, I understand our level and what we can do," the Kazakhstani coach said.

PARIVISION staved off elimination at the Esports World Cup on Friday by beating 100 Thieves in a quick two-map series, picking up their victory with Evgenii "⁠FL1T⁠" Lebedev on the roster.

In a post-match interview, Dastan "⁠dastan⁠" Akbayev explained the reasoning behind the signing of his former Virtus.pro player and the removals of Emil "⁠nota⁠" Moskvitin and Andrey "⁠BELCHONOKK⁠" Yasinskiy in the off-season after a run of poor results.

"Because of individual level," dastan told about the changes. "Because they dropped their individual performance in terms of frags and killing people. There were no issues between us, and this kick was not a drama kick.

"I think in two or three years they will be stronger. I understand that the tier-1 level is hard and sometimes a change is just needed. But it was not a drama kick."

PARIVISION will take to the server again on Sunday against MOUZ , marking the team's first clash since PGL Cluj-Napoca 2026.

dastan believes that MOUZ are the favorites heading into the match, though he noted that his players might draw inspiration from B8 's win against Vitality .

"B8 are also my friends, and I was happy for them," dastan said. "And I think my team feels that B8 beating Vitality helped us in terms of confidence.

"I think it will be a close match-up. MOUZ are always good. They have new players. I think right now we are kind of in the same position. But the difference is that they have three experienced guys, whereas I have two. That's all. But I think today our firepower was good, and I hope it will continue."

dastan, congratulations on the victory against 100 Thieves. You are now just one win away from the playoffs. Are you happy with the performance today?

I'm happy because we prepared for ten days, and after a best-of-one loss, we wanted to beat someone here. And I wanted to experience the feeling of a victory. I expected a harder game, but today my guys were shooting hard. The shooting was nice, the communication was nice, but still I feel some things that we are not strong on because we need to control the young players more than I think we should.

This is your first event with FL1T, someone you knew from your time with Virtus.pro. He brings a lot of experience and game sense, which are two things that the team was maybe lacking a little bit. Talk to me about your decision to pick him up.

About FL1T, I thought maybe like a year ago already that it would be nice if we could pick him up. But it would have been hard to get him because he was in Virtus.pro and he was part of the core and the leader of that roster. And after that we had good results, and maybe in the first part of 2026 we didn't even need him.

With FL1T, we worked a lot, but now I can say that this gap of two years, I also feel it, because the new meta right now, we see some situations differently. Even FL1T needs some time to understand better what's happening around because he also didn't play officials for half a year.

We won a Major together, and we worked a lot in Virtus.pro, and I think the difference between HObbit and FL1T is that he's younger. I respect HObbit a lot, and it was a hard decision. We need three young players to have strong firepower. I even think HObbit right now is stronger than, for example, slaxejezzz. But in the long term, slaxejezzz will evolve more, and we need firepower. Because if we have HObbit, me, Jame and FL1T in one team, it might be too hard. But that one month with HObbit was nice.

HObbit played with the team in China before FL1T came in I wanted to ask also a bit more about slaxejezzz. He's still very young and inexperienced. How do you think he's adapting to the team and to this level of competition?

I think for him it's hard because even when xiELO, nota, BELCHONOKK came to the team, they already had tier-3 experience. And when he came to us, I think if he had one more year of experience, it would be easier. But his individual level is nice. His mouse grip is like donk's. But in terms of what he sees around, how he tells information, of course it's hard for him. It's new maps. I think he's your usual FACEIT player. He played a lot of Ancient, Mirage, maybe Dust2, but on new maps he needs to play more.

Even Inferno, right?

Even Inferno, yes. He didn't play Inferno or Cache. I understand it. For me as a coach, it's hard to see some mistakes because I've been working for so many years and mistakes are very stupid. But he's trying to be better. I expect him to be stronger in the next half year or one year. He's very calm. He just needs to upgrade his voice in the team in what he thinks, what's happening, and call more.

And for him, I think even when he went to XSE Pro League, it was his first international trip. It's everything new for him. He's going to a tournament: 'Oh, it's ZywOo. Oh, it's rain.' And I don't want to take this moment from him because ten years ago when I was with AVANGAR, when we saw olof or coldzera, it was the same. And I think, with time, he will be better. And he's young.

You were very critical of the previous roster at times. When the time came to make changes, why did you decide to remove nota and BELCHONOKK from the team?

Because of individual level. Because they dropped their individual performance in terms of frags and killing people. There were no issues between us, and this kick was not a drama kick. They're still young. I think nota will have a bright future. But right now I think for the team, it was time to make this change for a new step, new players and new energy. And I saw BELCHONOKK here. He's playing on 1win. I think he's experienced now and he'll show himself better in the next team. And also, nota will play for a new team. I think it's a CIS team. I think in two or three years they will be stronger. I understand that the tier-1 level is hard and sometimes a change is just needed. But it was not a drama kick.

You are now going up against MOUZ. You haven't faced them since Cluj-Napoca back in February. You have changed two players, they have changed two players. What sort of expectations do you have for that qualification game?

I think they are favorites. They won Bounty. They beat Spirit. I think in terms of inner energy and confidence, they are higher right now. Maybe they're a bit tired because they were at Bounty. But after today's win, I think confidence will be higher. Before the game, B8 beat Vitality. B8 are also my friends, and I was happy for them. And I think my team feels that B8 beating Vitality helped us in terms of confidence.

I think it will be a close match-up. MOUZ are always good. They have new players. I think right now we are kind of in the same position. But the difference is that they have three experienced guys, whereas I have two. That's all. But I think today our firepower was good, and I hope it will continue. And one day off before the game will help us because we can maybe add more and prepare more against them.

PARIVISION has achieved a lot this year: deep runs, one title at Bounty. How far do you think that the team can go now with FL1T and slaxejezzz on the roster?

Our goal is to qualify for the Major without some nerves in autumn. We want to gain as many points as we can to feel comfortable at the Major. And because slaxejezzz, xiELO and zweih are still in their first or second year of tier-1, I understand some mistakes will happen. I always compare my team with other elite teams. If I compare my guys with G2, they have played much more. Only maybe r1nkle has played a bit less. But I need to be patient and try [for us] to be a stable tier-1 team as fast as possible.

Those are our goals: qualify for the Major, compete in the top 12, be in all the invites and play as many [events] as we can, and go to the playoffs. It would always be a good result. Of course, year by year, I expect more, but maybe if I had ZywOo or donk, I would give a different interview. But right now, I understand our level and what we can do.