s1mple: ‘I am proud and happy about the achievements that the team has achieved’

s1mple was once again great and consistent throughout the season, going up against the likes of fnatic, Cloud9 and Astralis, before beating his electronic teammate in the MVP race.

@s1mpleO #ESLOne ❤️️ pic.twitter.com/rv83uhgZic

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 8, 2018

After winning their first Intel Grand Slam title with Natus Vincere, which also featured all the top teams in attendance, HLTV spoke to s1mple about the tournament and the opponents they face. top in the playoffs.

Last time we talked, s1mple mentioned that his goal was to win tournaments that featured both Astralis and FaZe, and this is what he did. How do you feel, what are your impressions?

It feels great, I’m proud and happy about the achievements that the team has achieved, before every tournament. And of course, in the end we did, this is an important victory for us, in a tournament where all the teams are present. Now we know everyone is in attendance and the members know they have one week left to fix things up and prepare for ELEAGUE.

Once again, Na`Vi played the final against a rather unexpected team, like StarSeries, do you wish you had played against FaZe? Does it bring more satisfaction?

I would say that if the team wins FaZe, I myself will be more excited, firstly because it is FaZe, they will have a chance to get their first Grand Slam. BIG is a very good team, they prepared really well for this tournament and BIG deserved to make it to the finals. But facing BIG is different from FaZe or Astralis, because against these opponents, Na`Vi can be seen as the bottom team, as they are very strong teams. When you are seen as the top team, it becomes more intimidating against a team like BIG, it is more pressure. At first, it was very uncomfortable playing in the first two maps, I didn’t have any emotions. I don’t know what happened to me. Maybe it’s because when you’re in the final, something always happens. But overall, it’s still more exciting to beat FaZe, Astralis or a big-name team in the final.

GOD S1MPLE! 🔥@s1mpleO is on FIRE! #ESLOne pic.twitter.com/s8Rq8C9wAy

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 8, 2018

The only map that the team lost in the finals was Dust2, it seems that Na`Vi is not comfortable on this map?

Yes, I don’t think every member knows how to play their positions, but we have enough time to fix it. I don’t know the country, when facing BIG, the team made too many silly mistakes like the encounter in mid when BIG was force-buying, and then nex got themselves an ace. Then when we lost the force buy, that’s when they went up the catwalk, there were so many errors that kept reoccurring.

On that map, he pioneered a lot, willing to risk peeking with the AWP on CT. But since the team didn’t practice on this map, do you feel that those phases, to get the opening kill early, are sometimes too risky?

At the end of CT, I had two bold moves because I just wanted to win those rounds, I know it’s going to be tough going to T. But I did what Zeus said, before I do anything, I always Ask Zeus if everyone is ok with this, and it won’t cause the team to lose that round.

In the semi-final against Astralis, Na`Vi did a lot of force buying, and that’s what everyone knows about you guys. Is this a plan to prevent the opponent from hoarding money by force buying a lot? Who made this decision?

kane said we should force buy right before the first map, Overpass. He always said, if the team gets three kills at the force buy and still loses, then force it again. You shouldn’t let your opponent have a better economy, double AWP or anything like that. For example, when we know they don’t have AWP on CT, I try not to buy AWP if I lose that round, the opponent will get my AWP, so it’s best not to. And I also use a variety of weapons quite comfortably. And it also improves the team’s economy.

YOUR #ESLONE COLOGNE 2018 CHAMPIONS ARE @NATUSVINCERE! pic.twitter.com/9nmMkiWZCN

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 8, 2018

You won the MVP here, this is your 5th MVP of 2018 and your 7th ever, I guess this is your favorite MVP given the size of this tournament?

Yes, this is my favorite MVP because we put in a lot of work. We have more confidence because everyone the tactics the team is using are paying off. We practiced with this squad a lot, and when the tournament started, we were still practicing.

Now, Na`Vi is the team that has been in the top 10 for the longest time, you said you feel confident with this lineup, do you feel you have been with the members for a long time?

I feel like I always fix every mistake, if we have some problems, people always try to fix them. The members practice hard, every player, coach… We always listen to kane, he’s one of the smartest people I’ve met in the game, kane explains a lot of things, about economics games and everything else.

As a team, you’ve always made it to the playoffs, won a few minor tournaments, and now the grand slam championship. Will winning the Major be Na`Vi’s next big goal?

The next three tournaments are ELEAGUE, DreamHack, Masters Stockholm and the Major. The most important to us are the ELEGUAE and the Major. Of course, we want to win them. At DreamHack, we’re going to do some new things, maybe playing a lot of maps that the team wouldn’t normally have experience with.

According to HLTV