NAVI’s soiled sheets

Jetlag, burnout, ego… Excuse it how you want. You still shit the bed.

After a loss to Astralis in their opening game, NAVI has been knocked out of BLAST Premier World Finals by FaZe. World’s #1 team, knocked out of a million-dollar tournament in groups. They didn’t just lose, Astralis comfortably 2-0’d them, and FaZe hasn’t beaten a top 5 team in forever.

Though, NAVI has been sure to add plenty of mitigating factors, hell, if b1ad3’s pre-event interview is anything to go by, he must be delighted by this result. We’re sure.

After their losses, jL went on the record to say that they need to deal with jetlag better for future events. Which is probably true, but is no one else jetlagged? jL called out people for saying they’re making excuses, saying it’s just him listing their reasons for underperformance. But, isn’t that what an excuse is? Even if valid.

Maybe to no fault of NAVI’s own, stuff like this makes their reign as #1 feel less impressive. It’s like they lack the aura of a FaZe, Vitality, or prime Astralis. Maybe that’s just us, but results like these surely won't help their case.

Right until they win the next 5 events again, then we’ll be sure to shut up.

We’ve got more from BLAST so keep reading, but first, let’s take you through a few other stories from the week.

Nerd alert!

The nerds are coming for Counter-Strike. Wait, hang on…

It sounds ridiculous to think there are people nerdier than the guys who play video games for a living, but they exist, and a lot of them read this newsletter, in fairness.

Anyone who has been into either NBA or football in the last 10-15 years can tell you about the “data revolution” that has undergone both and how it’s, in some ways, ‘perfected’ the game and, in others, ruined it.

Take football as an example. There are fewer long-range shots and, therefore, fewer long-range goals. In Counter-Strike the equivalent would be if players stopped going for 1v3s and 1v4s as often, leading to fewer clutches.

When you think of it, it’s exactly what data has already done. We hate nerds!

The boffins aren’t quite done yet, as TL;DR alumnus NER0 outlines in a frankly excellent piece on HLTV. There’s so much data available on every tick of a CS demo, and it’s only a matter of time before Billy Beane comes in and changes everything.

Harry covers what has already happened, why it will all get solved eventually, and why it hasn’t quite yet. It’s a great piece for the nerds among you.

Let’s be fair. That’s all of us.

Rostermania: The Prequel

Before the main course, here’s a small appetizer.

With the teams gearing up for the RMRs, the transfer market is understandably quiet. Still, there’s been a bit of action worth noting.

First up, former fnatic and Cloud9 player Golden has been appointed as SAW’s coach.

Golden had already expressed his desire to transition into coaching, but we could not have guessed he would land in SAW. The Swede was already working with SAW during their first-place finish at ESL Challenger Katowice 2024, so we’d say he’s golden. Sorry, we had to.

Secondly, jkaem is finally getting his payday – though not from BLEED.

The 30-year-old has joined BC.Game, replacing KWERTZZ in the starting lineup. After joel’s departure amid cheating allegations, BC.Game went quiet for a few months but it looks like they’re ready to regain their footing. Adding a veteran like jkaem is a step in the right direction.

Lastly, a legend is up for grabs.

NBK- has announced he’s looking for new opportunities after parting ways with Revenant. Respect where it’s due, this is a two-time Major champion we’re talking about. However, sometimes it’s better to leave CS before CS leaves you. That said, we can definitely see NBK- thriving as a coach. Perhaps a path worth exploring.

Put some respect on Golden’s name

Logan wants to talk about the ‘elephant in the room’, Elliott doesn’t want to talk about paiN anymore, and stavn wants us both to shut up.

Team Not-So-Solid

Team Liquid cannot be serious.

They were reverse-swept by G2 after winning the first map 13-0 and only got a meager 12 rounds over the next two maps combined.

Then, they were reverse-swept once more by Vitality to go out of the event last. That’s Vitality with a stand-in, by the way. Though it could have been anyone standing in - ZywOo went +22 in the series.

G2 had NiKo and m0NESY to thank for getting them out of the hole, so you do feel a bit sorry for Liquid - but that’s kinda the point, isn’t it? Liquid just doesn’t quite have that X-factor level player to compete at the elite level.

Everyone else but Liquid and NAVI gets into playoffs, which we wholeheartedly disagree with. We also disagree with Astralis going straight to semi-finals, but not based on anything performance or logic-based, we just don’t like it on a spiritual level.

They smashed both NAVI and MOUZ to fly through to playoffs, and cadiaN’s HEROIC team are back – except with device on the AWP. That is terrifying.

Meanwhile, G2, having lost 0-13 on their first map, won every other map to glide through to top four with Astralis. G2 are the funniest team in the world, and they’re bloody fun to watch.

Oh, and donk dropped 51 despite losing 0-2 to G2.

FaZe play Spirit and MOUZ play Vitality (they might have already played by the time you read this) today in the quarter-finals, and it’s another early start on Saturday for the two semi-finals.

See you right here on Monday, with a recap of how it all played out.

🛍️ Cleanup on aisle esports

👀 Vertigone?

☕ One’s spilling tea, the other is serving cu- coffee.

This TL;DR was written by aizyesque, shoko, Horizzon and napz.
Welshy coded the email and Incipiens copy edited.

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