B1ad3 urges NAVI to trust its long-term plans

Natus Vincere coach Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy urged the team to remain patient with its long-term plans after NAVI lost to Vitality in the quarter-finals of PGL Masters Bucharest in Romania.

NAVI reached the playoffs for the first time since winning IEM Atlanta and recorded victories over Spirit and FURIA during the tournament.

B1ad3 explained that NAVI had not made major changes to improve its results. The team continued working on the same systems and protocols, with a focus on executing them more effectively.

“We were constantly working on the same stuff,” B1ad3 said. “The execution of protocols and ideas was not that sharp, because this can come with mindset, this can come with your confidence. Everything we have, it’s there.”

NAVI opened the series against Vitality with a win on Cache, a map it had prepared extensively. The team studied current strategies on the map and gained confidence from its previous performance against Spirit. B1ad3 also expected NAVI to benefit from starting on the attacking side.

Vitality responded on Mirage and Dust2 after building confidence and gaining control of the in-game economy. B1ad3 said this allowed Vitality’s players to take more aggressive and less predictable fights. He identified NAVI’s communication and coordination on the defensive side of Mirage as a major weakness.

“Against these kinds of teams, you need 5% or 10% more clarity in what you’re doing, more synergy and a lot of communication,” B1ad3 said. “Your brain must work at full potential.”

NAVI failed to work together in several late-round situations and allowed Vitality to secure multiple kills. B1ad3 believes the team needs to recover the sharper, more reactive style it has shown in stronger performances.

NAVI had also improved at ESL Pro League, where it defeated 9z and G2 and took maps from Vitality and Falcons. B1ad3 pointed to losses to PARIVISION and BetBoom as examples of similar problems. NAVI became hesitant in those matches, while its opponents continued to move and fight with confidence.

“We are playing much better now, and we proved it here,” B1ad3 said. “We had very tough opponents. We had G2, FURIA, Spirit and Vitality.”

He added that recent wins had helped restore NAVI’s confidence after a period in which losses caused hesitation. The team plans to review its mistakes, apply lessons from each match and continue working within the same system.

“The main point is that you’re gaining some knowledge and trying to use this knowledge during the match,” B1ad3 said. “If it doesn’t work, you fix it and stay realistic. I think that will help us a lot: just trust the process.”

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