NAVI’s makazze: Focusing on Major adds pressure

Drin “makazze” Shaqiri warned at the ESL Pro League 24 media day that focusing on the Singapore Major would create extra pressure for Natus Vincere. NAVI sit 24th in the Europe VRS and have two tournaments left to collect the points needed to qualify for the season-ending LAN.

The team’s current position follows a run of modest results this season. NAVI finished 9th–16th at EWC, 9th–12th at BLAST Open Porto and 7th–8th at StarLadder Series Fall, winning three of eight matches across those events.

Rather than centring their preparation on the Major, the roster will concentrate on each event in turn. Makazze relayed that organisation and team leadership have urged players to focus on showing their best Counter-Strike at every tournament and not to rely on automatic entry if performance drops.

NAVI prepared from home instead of staging a bootcamp, completing more than ten days of practice. The coaching staff and players concentrated on reducing individual errors, in particular over-peeks and shot execution, and on improving team shooting and space-taking. The squad has kept a seven-map pool, which players say has become more consistent in practice.

Makazze addressed his recent form and mental state, saying he has recovered from a difficult stretch and feels “in better form than last tournaments, for sure.” He added that time off helped refresh his mindset and that he is ready to continue taking opening roles and creating space for teammates.

Two tournaments remain on NAVI’s schedule before the Major qualification cutoff. The team plans to apply its recent practice adjustments in those events as it seeks to secure the points required for the Singapore Major.

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