Aleksib: makazze has Ancient as phone wallpaper

Natus Vincere will meet Team Vitality in the BLAST Rivals grand final after a semifinal win over FaZe in Rotterdam. NAVI took Dust2 13-5 and closed a tighter Ancient map to secure the series.

Aleksib pointed to FaZe’s limited practice on Ancient as a reason for the map’s swings. He noted opponents “needed to rely on explosiveness, they needed to rely on getting a plant as fast as possible,” and that individual clutch plays kept FaZe competitive during the comeback attempt.

Drin “makazze” Shaqiri recorded a 1.40 rating on Ancient in the semifinal and played a key role in NAVI’s map defense. Aleksib laughed that makazze even uses Ancient as his phone wallpaper, calling it “like his home, and people are trying to intrude.”

The coach described makazze as a player who repeatedly seeks the same duel even after being eliminated multiple times in a round, often only changing timing by a second.

Natus Vincere lost to Vitality at IEM Rio and in the BLAST Open Rotterdam final without winning a map in either series. Aleksib said the team must treat the upcoming final knowing they “have nothing to lose now.” He urged players to avoid nerves and keep the same level of comfort they showed against other opponents.

Aleksib added that NAVI increases preparation when they expect to face Vitality and that they plan to study ways to beat them. “We want to win very hard; we’re always doing twice the amount of work when we’re going to face them next,” he said.

Natus Vincere enter the grand final seeking the title and aiming to register a map and a series win against Vitality this season.