BanKs on Krabeni’s re-signing with FUT Esports’ CS2 roster: “Everyone was happy except Natus Vincere.”

BanKs: There have been rumors that Natus Vincere was interested in Krabeni. I can’t confirm this yet, since the information didn’t come from the most reliable sources, but rather from other players. Perhaps this is just a controlled leak to boost the captain’s media value, so I’ll wait for official confirmation. As for the negotiations, Krabeni didn’t sign the contract initially simply because of the process of discussing the terms. All players have different agents, and when signing a long-term agreement, it’s important to ensure that the figures and terms are acceptable to both sides. It’s great that FUT Esports management reached a compromise. Losing Krabeni would have been a huge problem for the club, and this agreement keeps the organization on the right track. Everyone is satisfied except Natus Vincere.

Devilwalk: Yes. And now the main unresolved issue is cmtry—he’s the only team member who hasn’t re-signed his contract yet. This situation will clearly put more pressure on the sniper and draw even more attention to his gameplay at the upcoming tournament. We’ll see how he handles it. I hope FUT Esports management is still in talks with him. It would be unpleasant to be in cmtry’s shoes when the organization publicly announces contract extensions for all his teammates, but hasn’t even approached him about a new contract.

BanKs: The next piece of news concerns ruggah—he has announced his retirement. Just recently, during the group stage of the tournament in Porto, he was working with us in the analytics studio. This Danish analyst is 38 years old. He began his journey as a professional CS:Source player, witnessing the very beginnings of CS:GO. When we ran into each other at events, we often reminisced about the days of CS 1.6 and the old tournament standings. He has accomplished a great deal throughout his long career. True, he doesn’t have that many trophies—the only one that comes to mind is his victory at EPICENTER 2016 with Dignitas. However, a huge number of top players have passed through his teams at Dignitas, North, OpTic, OG, and Astralis, and he helped them break into the scene. Even though his name isn’t associated with a long string of high-profile victories, he’s made countless sound decisions, has a deep understanding of the game, and has remained dedicated to our community for many years.

Devilwalk: I hope we’ll see him in the analysis booth at LAN tournaments many more times in the future. That role definitely suits him.

BanKs: Remember when we discussed the situation surrounding B1ad3 and his “no laughing” rule? Obviously, I always defend B1ad3—to me, he’s the greatest coach in NAVI history. However, information later became publicly available that we didn’t have at the time: those words were spoken even before the match began.

Devilwalk: Yes, the recording of the conversation was made during a technical break before the game started. Because of this, I decided to reach out to B1ad3. I sent him a private message on X and apologized for my previous comment. I explained that I’d called his actions “stupid” because I’d relied on the BLAST broadcast and misunderstood the context of the situation. I wrote that I wanted to apologize directly. He replied, “Hey, it’s all good”—and added an emoji.

BanKs: That’s so typical of him—a classic B1ad3 response.