kassad: “I think everyone at Natus Vincere understands the situation; the people there must be aware of the need for changes.”
Analysts Alexander “kassad” Trifunović, Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg, and Duncan “Thorin” Shields discussed the likelihood and possible nature of roster changes for Natus Vincere’s CS2 team in the latest episode of the Hot Take Point Made podcast and reflected on the role of Mihai “iM” Ivan within the organization.
On the Need for Changes at Natus Vincere
kassad: I think everyone at Natus Vincere understands the situation; the people there must be aware of the need for changes. In my opinion, the current roster’s lifecycle has reached a point where everyone recognizes the need for change. I don’t know who should leave—maybe iM? I don’t think they’ll touch w0nderful after the results he’s shown over the past few months. The club isn’t ready to let makazze go just yet either; Aleksib is, in theory, safe; and, of course, b1t isn’t going anywhere either. So it turns out that only iM is on the chopping block, but who could take his place—that’s a whole other question.
On the Major results and iM’s role on the team
Mauisnake: In my opinion, when you miss the Major playoffs, you inevitably start thinking about changes. First and foremost, B1ad3 needs to take a realistic view of the goals set for the roster. The goal was to win the trophy, which the team successfully achieved. But if you look at Natus Vincere’s successes, the team won the EPL without facing the strong Team Spirit during the event, and then at IEM Atlanta, they defeated Team Vitality, which had barely practiced at that point. If you take this into account, it becomes painfully clear that your results over the course of the year were a bit more dependent on luck than you’d like to admit. Perhaps in a situation like this, it’s worth realizing that you can’t rely solely on a perfectly prepared plan every time you log onto the server, and a little boost in firepower wouldn’t hurt. Without a doubt, iM is a player who helps the team’s system function. He significantly raises the team’s “floor,” but he simply lacks a “ceiling” in those situations where he needs to be the one to set the stage for a round win while holding a favorable position on the map.
On iM’s replacement and comparing NAVI to Team Falcons
Thorin: I agree with you, and in my opinion, the result at the Major was indeed important. I even think it matters far more to NAVI than it does to Vitality. The latter had an incredible season, and their players can simply chalk it up to having a bad day. I believe that Natus Vincere’s current roster is the polar opposite of Team Falcons’ lineup. The “Falcons” need to have an incredible level of firepower and make a few good calls, and then they might be able to win. But the “born to win” team needs to execute an extremely complex game plan with perfect precision, and only then will they have a chance at success. In fact, they could keep 95 percent of their current lineup and simply swap out one player for a minor boost in firepower. That’s exactly why iM has it the worst in this situation—he looks like the easiest one to replace. Even considering the fact that he sometimes acts as a second caller, I’d still take the risk and pick someone else instead of him.
In the previous episode of the podcast, analysts Alexander “kassad” Trifunović, Alex “Mauisnake” Ellenberg, and Duncan “Thorin” Shields discussed Jack “Gizmy” von Sprekelsen’s addition to the 100 Thieves roster and speculated on the prospects of the organization’s revamped lineup.
Photo by Helena Kristiansson, ESL.
