B1ad3: "We need to not get hung up on our finals series"

NAVI’s Counter-Strike 2 coach, Andrii "B1ad3" Horodenskyi, discussed the team’s mindset heading into the BLAST World Final 2024 in Singapore. In an interview with HLTV.org, Horodenskyi mentioned that the team had limited time to prepare for the event.

“We never allow ourselves to take a relaxed approach at any tournament. At the very least, we don’t discuss such an attitude or aim to change our approach. This tournament will be like all the others, except that perhaps we haven’t had enough preparation. The only thing we need to focus on is not fixating on our record in finals; that’s the most important thing.”

The Ukrainian esports coach also shared his thoughts on NAVI’s first opponent, Astralis.

“Let’s put it this way: out of all the teams, I think this one won’t be as challenging as others, certainly. I believe this is an objective opinion, given that they have a new roster and are also experimenting or implementing a new system. If you read their interviews, for example, device talks about one thing, cadiaN about another, so they need to find their footing and get a feel for it.

I don’t know; maybe they’ve already found their balance and are on solid ground, but perhaps not. From what we’ve seen so far, they don’t pose the same threat as Liquid or Team Spirit, for example. The scene is very competitive, and when a team loses, they become hungrier for the next tournament. If they lose again, they become even hungrier, so they’re constantly building up ‘mana.’”

The BLAST World Final 2024 takes place from 30 October to 3 November in Singapore, where eight teams will compete for a one-million-dollar prize pool, with half going to the winner.