dastan on PARIVISION: “Perhaps we would have achieved better results by playing more aggressively.”
PARIVISION coach Dastan “dastan” Akbaev spoke during a personal livestream about Natus Vincere’s slump, as well as reflecting on the reasons behind his team’s lack of aggression and the slow development of the Kazakhstani pro scene.
On Natus Vincere’s Slump
From what I can tell as an outsider, they didn’t make any significant roster upgrades. They played it safe and assumed the team would perform well—and not as poorly as they are right now. But I don’t think this roster should be underestimated, because they’ve been through a lot together. This squad has a wealth of experience—four of them are Major champions. In tough times like these, I think they’ll be able to prove themselves. Right now in Tier 1 CS, where many teams have money, you don’t always have the opportunity to strengthen your roster. In Europe, the competition for players is absolutely insane.
On low aggression in the PARIVISION style
Objectively speaking, some maps lend themselves more to aggression—take Ancient, for example, where you’re fighting for mid right at your base. But on some maps, it’s hard to play aggressively all the time, like when defending on Dust2. On some maps, the dynamics make it hard to constantly push. Maybe we’d have achieved better results by playing more aggressively, but with constant roster changes, it’s hard to tell what’s working and what isn’t.
On the Slow Development of the Kazakhstani Pro Scene
First, [this is influenced by] resources and ping. In other words, not all [Kazakhstani teams] have the right conditions to compete. Second, there’s a lack of experienced coaches and captains to help develop talent more quickly. Third, it seems to me that the stories of molodoy and mo0N are linked to the fact that they joined teams whose members had been playing together for a long time. In other words, the talented molodoy joined KSCERATO, FalleN, yuurih, and YEKINDAR—players with many years of experience. It’s somewhat easier for him to play because all the guys around him are already seasoned. As for mo0N’s story, sFade8 and AW played together for about three years and developed a certain system.
From the outside, it always seems like it all has to happen quickly, but building a team takes years. If you have one or two weak positions, you won’t be able to prove yourself at all. Right now, I’m hearing [on the pro scene] about demente and kumao—I think they’ll have opportunities. It would be better for me personally if I could bring in some talent from Kazakhstan to strengthen our team.
I think it would be easier if there were some kind of sponsorship that would rent a house in Belgrade or Russia so the players could develop in good conditions. When a wealthy organization emerges in Kazakhstan, that’s when there will be more talent.
Earlier, Dastan “dastan” Akbaev revealed the reasons behind Vyacheslav “slaxejezzz” Vinokurov’s transfer to the PARIVISION bench, discussed Abay “HObbit” Khasenov’s adaptation, and assessed his team’s current form.
Photo by Adela Sznajder, ESL.
