New NAVI CS:GO captain says he’s not in full command of team, despite community’s beliefs

This should put an end to recent speculation.

Professional CS:GO players Aleksib and jL looking at a gaming monitor during BLAST Premier Fall Groups in 2023.
Photo by Michal Konkol via BLAST

Unlike what the CS:GO community thinks of the Finnish in-game leader Aleksib and his perceived strict tactical system, he’s not calling all the shots for Natus Vincere.

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Aleksib revealed in an interview today with CS:GO caster Henry “HenryG” Greer at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups that he’s following coach Andrij “B1ad3” Ghorodensjkyj’s leadership instead of implementing his system in NAVI after arriving during the offseason alongside riflers Justinas “jL” Lekavicius and Ivan “iM” Mihai.

“[B1ad3] made it clear to me that it’s his project and his way and I’ve made it clear to him that I want to work with his ways,” Aleksib told HenryG. “But he also understands that we’re going to meet somewhere in the middle when it comes down to some different topics because obviously, I’m still the one that can talk mostly in-game.”

Related: NAVI keeps s1mple leading CS:GO roster amid 3 major international pickups

There’s been concern from NAVI fans that Aleksib plays a too strict style of CS:GO to work with someone as loose as s1mple since his addition was reported during the offseason.

The Finn recently touched on this subject in an interview with HLTV on July 13 prior to NAVI’s debut at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups.

“I feel like it’s a misconception that I’m way too strict or something, or that I add way too much structure,” Aleksib told HLTV. “That’s definitely not the case if I have players who are capable of playing good CS and understanding what they’re doing, and are telling the team what they want to do. If I have teammates who tend to be more quiet it’s a different story, that’s when you have to take some of the responsibility into your own hands.”

Well, now that fans are also aware that Aleksib will have to follow B1ad3’s orders, maybe they’ll stop being as critical of the Finnish IGL.

The new NAVI lineup have defeated Astralis and lost to Heroic thus far at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups. And by the looks of it, Aleksib and B1ad3 will need to try to calm down s1mple as the superstar is not happy with the way they played against Heroic.

Author
Image of Leonardo Biazzi
Leonardo Biazzi
Staff writer and CS:GO lead. Leonardo has been passionate about games since he was a kid and graduated in Journalism in 2018. Before Leonardo joined Dot Esports in 2019, he worked for Brazilian outlet Globo Esporte. Leonardo also worked for HLTV.org between 2020 and 2021 as a senior writer, until he returned to Dot Esports and became part of the staff team.