dastan on slaxejezzz: “He needs to play more and gain experience. I hope he’ll continue to develop his potential.”

It seems to me that the team lacked chemistry and there was a certain disconnect. When you’re having these kinds of conversations, you don’t really want to speak too badly about anyone, especially when it comes to young guys. Overall, I wouldn’t say I’ve said goodbye to Slava—he’s young, he has good individual skills, but he needs to play more and gain experience. I hope he’ll still find his stride. I message him about what he needs to do and what he needs to work on. We need to bring in young players and hope they’re exceptionally talented and will develop quickly. But slaxejezzz’s rate of development just wasn’t fast enough.

Abay and I have good chemistry in terms of understanding and building our game. I think he wants to perform better individually, but I feel like he needs time to prove himself. He trains every day. I hope he finds his rhythm at the LAN.

We’re heading to three tournaments now. The first will be ESL Pro League Season 24—it’s very important—and the second will be the Thunderpick World Championship 2026 in Malta. The third tournament hasn’t been announced yet; it will be a LAN event in Belgrade. These three tournaments are crucial for qualifying for a Major. When new players join the roster and we can’t play Tier 2–3 tournaments, I think it affects our confidence a bit—you’re thrown right into Tier 1 events, and you have to perform at a high level right away.

All in all, we’re ready. <...> Based on our [most recent] results, I think we’re capable of beating anyone and losing to anyone. Some days we’re more focused, but the constant practice days are exhausting, and we want to play in tournament mode, to feel every moment and every crucial play. Right now, everyone understands how important this period is—the guys want to prove themselves.