The Players is already working on the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2023 media day. Ninjas in Pyjamas sniper Daniil headtr1ck Valitov talked with our correspondent Sofiia Pikhalo. We talked about his mood for this tournament, Alex's arrival as captain and the updated NAVI roster.
How is your mood?
I am charged for this tournament, because it's very important for us. We have two players from Denmark, so we are very excited for this tournament.
Have you experienced your own growth almost a year after the transfer from NAVI Junior?
Yes of course. It's a separate experience, it's a whole other level of play. It's also a completely different life, because you have to travel a lot more, go to other countries. So, I feel like I'm making progress and moving in the right direction.
Is there any pressure on you because of the lack of major tournament wins this year?
Actually, not really. I believe that during this period we had many players change, because of this it was more difficult to find your game until the end, something is always updated, new players and the training process must be started all over again. It throws us off a little bit at times, but I think we're headed in the right direction with this roster, we have good team chemistry right now. I think we will continue to play much better.
You currently have Brollan and hampus inactive. Are you positive about the current roster?
Yes, I have a positive attitude towards new roster, I think that everything that's done is for the better. I don't know, we just didn't have very good results with Brollan and hampus, maybe because of the different cultures in the team. I won't say everything, but there were mixed emotions in the team. And maybe not everyone had good contact with each other, this is very bad for team play and playing in big tournaments. But I still wish them luck and think they are capable of playing well.
How do you rate the latest reshuffles in CS?
A very unusual roster at NAVI, because even a year ago I couldn't have thought that they would have such a roster as it is now. If you look from the outside, you can see that they have good chemistry. I know Aleksi, we played with him, I think he will quickly find contact with new players, maybe he has already found some. They have a very interesting roster, and I would like to play against them.
Also, Vitality has an interesting roster. It's a bit different now, because they had Magisk, a player with experience, so I don't know how they will play.
I think anyone can beat anyone in this tournament. FaZe are currently the strongest, but you have to understand that they may also have some roster changes, and this is a chance for other teams to break their streak now.
What do you expect from your new captain?
I really expect a lot from him. I think he has a good experience playing for Movistar. Maybe it's a little different level, but I think he'll do well at the new level. I expect to see leadership qualities from him, so that when the team is in some difficult and nervous situation, he treats it as simply and with a cool head as possible, so that it will be easier for other players in the team. I think he will do well.
Are you comparing the past captain and the new one?
Is it necessary? (laughs).
So you are saying that each captain original and individual?
Well, of course, all the captains I played with in NiP are different. Alexi was completely different, he was more structured, but he had a big plus - these are his leadership qualities. But I can say that Alex has them too, they even have similar nicknames. They have quite different cultures, because alex is spanish, more on an easy vibe, easy to communicate with people.
Alexi has helped me a lot individually, I think he is a good captain, but a little bit with his vision in some situations, but I still think he will play well.
Your first match is against FaZe, who already have a pretty big win streak, are you ready for such a strong first opponent?
We are not afraid of FaZe because we played them about a week ago in a tournament in China, we almost beat them, lost 28:25 at Ancient. It was a sign for us that we can beat them and play well against them. They have a good roster, their players are strong individually. We cannot influence some situations, but if we build our game correctly in stressful situations and show ourselves good individually, we will have our chance. Like I said, anyone can beat anyone in this tournament because a lot of teams will have changes after the tournament and some teams in this tournament are already with different lineups.
