NAVI player Valerii b1t Vakhovskyi gave an interview to Players reporter Sofiia Pikhalo after the loss to spirit in the semifinals of IEM Cologne 2025 in CS2.
Thanks for today and for the match. Can you please share your impressions after these three maps?
It’s a pity we couldn’t win Mirage, we lost Mirage, and that’s not very good. But I can say that they started a snowball and we lost a lot of rounds.
Was there stronger preparation for either half — T or CT — that prevented you from winning the first two maps? They made an incredible comeback.
On Mirage, we made 3–4 important mistakes in crucial moments, rotations and other things, which led to our loss.
Right now, the team is going through position changes, new positions for makazze — how do you think you’re handling it?
We’re handling it well, I think he [makazze] showed a good performance. The fact that we lost is not about him, as a team we showed a poor performance on the server. He did well, and it’s a good experience.
Do you know why that particular map pick was made?
Because those are strong maps for us and we were supposed to win.
What are your next plans, what will you be doing in the near future?
I think we’ll have qualifiers for BLAST Bounty 2025 Season 2, we’ll play from home. There are a lot of tournaments now, we don’t have time to rest.
Is it more comfortable to practice online or to be together in the same room?
Of course, it’s better to play in the same room, we develop better as a team that way.
Thank you.
