After the opening series against
We need some confidence back. I'm pretty sure that this tournament, if we're going to win it, will be confidence for the next tournaments.
Mihai "iM" Ivan
A tough start against 9INE
NAVI’s opening match was far from smooth. The underdogs managed to take a map off the European powerhouse before NAVI recovered to close the series 2-1. According to iM, the match was tighter than expected, in part due to his own struggles on the server:
"It was closer than we thought, than we expected, but just to make fun of it, my guys played 4v5. I was doing my part, but whenever I saw a guy in my aim, I couldn't kill him. Almost every time it was 80, 80, 90, 90, but this is the game, it was one of those games for me, and I'm happy that we won."
Mihai "iM" Ivan
Typical struggles in opening games
Reflecting on why the first map slipped away, iM admitted that NAVI often start tournaments slowly, sometimes lacking decisiveness in early games:
I think every tournament for us, every first game or first map, we kinda struggle, so maybe it was that, maybe it was something else. Overall I think we just lacked a bit of confidence and balls, let's say.
Mihai "iM" Ivan
Costly mistakes and lessons learned
Even on maps where NAVI prevailed, there were unusual mistakes — including a rare round loss to a full eco on Inferno. iM explained that the team will revisit those moments to ensure they don’t repeat:
I'm not sure what happened on that round… It was obviously a mistake, we will discuss what went wrong and see who needed to hold what. Maybe we thought it was already won and we were just chilling.
Mihai "iM" Ivan
Building for the future
Ultimately, iM reiterated that the team’s primary goal in Budapest is not just winning the event itself, but using it as a springboard for the future. Regardless of the opposition, victories are crucial for NAVI’s mental game:
This tournament for us needs to be a confidence boost. Just playing more games and it doesn't matter if it's higher opponents or lower opponents, we just need to get some wins.
Mihai "iM" Ivan
