Natus Vincere’s CS:GO<\/em> head coach Andrij “B1ad3” Ghorodensjkyj isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to his thoughts on Andrij “npl” Kukharsjkyj’s impact on the team. The 17-year-old joined NAVI’s active lineup for the 2023 season and still has a lot to learn to perform on the same level as his teammates, B1ad3 said at the BLAST Paris Major Legends Stage after they defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas on May 14.<\/p>
“Npl played better [against NiP],” B1ad3 said in a post-match interview, according to Escore News<\/a>. “But we must expect he is not on the same level as our other players. We can see it very clearly. Because there’s no experience and knowledge that we have. I expect him to make mistakes. Yesterday [May 13] was a really bad game for him [versus Team Liquid], not his usual game. What we try to do now is to avoid ‘yesterday’s game’ for him. We’re trying to cheer him up and make a proper game plan where he feels comfortable.”<\/p>
Related: 2 CS:GO<\/em> snipers beat s1mple for the most expensive Paris Major sticker on Steam<\/a><\/strong><\/p>
Npl’s statistics since playing full-time for NAVI’s first team are not optimal and indeed suggest he’s still learning the ropes of tier-one CS:GO<\/em>. The young gun is averaging a 0.94 rating in 2023, according to HLTV<\/a>, and is the lowest-rated player on NAVI by a reasonable margin in comparison to Perfecto’s 1.02 average rating this season.<\/p>
The 17-year-old is also having a tough time at the BLAST Paris Major<\/a>, which is his first Valve-sponsored event. He’s averaged a 0.84 rating thus far at the $1.25 million CS:GO<\/em> tournament, according to HLTV<\/a>, and is NAVI’s worst player at the Major. Perfecto once again has the second-lowest rating (1.10), but that’s far better than npl’s.<\/p>
NAVI are one win away from reaching the playoffs of the BLAST Paris Major. And even though they haven’t won a tournament in 2023 thus far, they have a solid chance to fight for the Major trophy as long as s1mple<\/a>, electroNic, b1t, and Perfecto keep performing and supporting npl, especially on the CT side.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
