Aleksib on being eliminated from BLAST Open Porto 2026 in CS2: “Every player on our roster was missing something.”
Natus Vincere captain Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen commented on the loss to G2 Esports in an interview at BLAST Open Porto 2026, assessed the team’s current state, and discussed their plans following their elimination from the tournament.
On the match against G2 Esports
To be honest, I think we didn’t play well enough. On Ancient, we could have played much better in certain situations. ...> Today, we felt like we were giving up the advantage to our opponents too often, and the clutch moments consistently went against us. Overall, we didn’t perform at our best, although there was a real battle early on in Ancient: the pistol round, as well as the second and third rounds, were extremely close.
On the Natus Vincere players and future plans
It’s clear that every player on our roster was missing something. This is hard to accept, since we’ve worked very hard over the past six weeks. That’s why it’s especially disappointing to be eliminated from two tournaments in a row in the group stage. Our performance at the Esports World Cup 2026 was unsatisfactory, just like it was here. It’s hard to move forward right now, but we need to keep grinding and fighting.
On the impact of being eliminated from BLAST Open Porto 2026
Speaking for myself, I don’t think this loss has affected me in any way. We’re still playing with the same roster, holding long boot camps, and thinking about nothing but CS.
Earlier, Natus Vincere was eliminated from BLAST Open Porto 2026 after losing to G2 Esports. Alexi “Aleksib” Virolainen’s team lost the series 0–2, failing to secure a victory on Ancient (6–13) and Inferno (10–13). G2 Esports, meanwhile, advanced to the next round of Group A’s lower bracket.
Photo: Esports Foundation.
