- Natus Vincere's CS:GO coach B1ad3 talks about why flamie was replaced with B1T on the team's active five-man roster.
- B1ad3 was of the opinion that "It’s not the best time for flamie to play now because he’s been under pressure lately and he can’t do his best".
- The revamped Na'Vi lineup had held a bootcamp recently in Kyiv to practice for the upcoming DreamHack and RMR CS:GO tournaments.
Natus Vincere’s coach Andrii “B1ad3” Gorodenskyi recently came forward to reveal why Egor “flamie” Vasilev was replaced by Valerii “B1T” Vakhovskyi on the team’s active CS:GO roster. According to B1ad3, the change was made because Na’Vi had not performed well in their last 2 CS:GO tournaments and “this called for changes”. But the main reason why flamie, the oldest player on the roster at the moment, was swapped with B1T is because of the RMR deadline for the upcoming Flashpoint Season 3, the first European RMR CS:GO event of 2021. B1ad3 goes on to discuss a few things specific to flamie also, which contributed to him being rested for the next couple of tournaments.
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Na’Vi coach talks about why flamie was replaced with B1T
Na’Vi started off 2021 with consecutive victories at BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020 and Blast Premier: Spring Groups 2021. But this golden form turned out to be temporary, as they fell flat in their next 2 CS:GO tournaments, IEM Katowice 2021 and ESL Pro League Season 13. The poor form shown by the team witnessed flamie being blamed by the community, as the weak link of the team.
The CIS-based organization took a decision to replace flamie with B1T as part of their active CS:GO roster, and see how the team performs in the next 2 tournaments - DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 and Flashpoint Season 3. This decision was made just before the roster lockdown for the upcoming RMR tournament, keeping in mind that a player substitution would be penalized heavily.
Talking about why flamie was replaced with B1T, B1ad3 goes on to say that, “I think it’s not the best time for Egor (flamie) to play now because he’s been under pressure lately and he can’t do his best. Working with the psychologist isn’t helping, neither is advice, nor good performances. There is a lot of inconsistency and I think it may have to do with him being uptight and under intense pressure.”
As both flamie and B1T have multiple CS:GO maps in common, the pressure to produce more consistent results seems to be a big factor why the 24-year-old is not able to perform. With Na’Vi in need of a stable five-man lineup, the organization took a decision to play with B1T and see how things go.
Talking about flamie’s future in Na’Vi, B1ad3 said that “I think in order to make progress flamie needs to take some time off, work on himself, reflect on some things and come back with renewed vigor. This way he has a chance to get his top form back that he used to have.”
To get the new lineup accustomed to each other and improve their teamwork, Na’Vi had planned a bootcamp in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine from 11-24 April. The objective was to play against different opponents, face multiple challenging scenarios, see how the team reacts to various playstyles, and access their strength across all the competitive maps. Helping them prepare for the upcoming DreamHack tournament which acts as a precursor to Flashpoint Season 3, an important event for the CIS giants.
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