Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen’s NAVI roster has seen a significant uptick in form following the rapid development of 19-year-old rifler Drin ‘makazze’ Shaqiri.
That improvement banked them an ESL Pro League victory, followed by a Grand Final and Quarter-Final exit at BLAST Rotterdam and IEM Rio to eventual champions, Vitality.
Insider Gaming spoke to Aleksib to assess how makazze’s improvement has helped the team, how to overcome Vitality, and to discuss the recent roster changes in the CS2 scene.
I think it’s like a thing about makazze that maybe some people still don’t know, that he’s super positive, always with the right mindset, especially in officials, you know, having fun sometimes in practice, just like also keeping the mood up. It’s something that definitely was missed when JL left.
aleksib on makazze’s emotional contribution to NAVI
We’ve seen the team have an uptick in form following makazze’s growth as a player. How does makazze help you as a caller in the rounds, and what can you call that you couldn’t before because of his improvement?
You know, I just think that, overall, he’s just built this confidence around the plays he’s making and just the way he’s moving around the map and understanding situations.
I think, for us, it’s an amazing thing, as a caller and overall, that you know that this rookie has a lot of confidence, especially in the playoffs and on stage.
That’s something that you understand. That, when you get to those moments to play on stage, and there’s going to be a tough playoff match, it’s always nice as the IGL and overall for any player on the team.
I would think that you know that you’re going to have a guy who’s going to be super confident and who’s likely going to perform well, and it’s going to lift other people up as well, especially when he’s very positive, laughing, doing all these things that are important for everyone to build on the energy.
Do you think that emotional aspect is important? Because I think a lot of people thought that maybe JL’s departure removed a bit of the kind of hype in the team.
Yeah, I think it’s important, and I think it’s like a thing about makazze that maybe some people still don’t know, that he’s super positive, always with the right mindset, especially in officials, you know, having fun sometimes in practice, just like also keeping the mood up.
It’s something that definitely was missed when JL left, but then we understood also the personality of makazze and it was kind of like a realisation after that, ‘Oh, this guy’s also coming up with the good mood and bringing this young energy to the team.’
Some of that kind of left with JL, but then makazze came to bring his own energy, and I think everything is flowing right now.
There’s something missing when it comes down to trying to beat Vitality.
Aleksib on Vitality challenge
So, outside of makazze, what other improvements have you noted yourself within the team recently?
So overall, I just think that we did some hard work and ever since the start of Pro League, and then after that, things are just clicking in terms of us doing like a lot of repetitions, a lot of reviews, a lot of everything, just our map pool has become better.
We feel more confident on different maps and even some maps where we’ve had losses lately. I just feel like whenever we play practice, or we review those games, we still have a lot of confidence, even on the maps that we struggled on.
So I think it’s a good thing, but still there’s something missing when it comes down to trying to beat Vitality, for example, and that’s another topic and that’s another challenge, but I think it’s great that we are feeling the confidence against any other team and even against Vitality, I think, that we’re feeling confident, but there’s just something lacking when it comes down to making them struggle more.
At Budapest, what you guys did against Furia was, I think, a masterpiece of like anti-stratting. Do you think that’s possible with Vitality? Or do you think they’re too strong, too robust individually?
You know, it’s hard to answer the question. I think it’s always possible, but the level they’ve shown, and people are currently saying that they’re the best team of all time in all of Counter-Strike, it’s a bit crazy to think about it.
Obviously, I do think if you play a perfect game against them, you have a perfect game plan, you can beat any team, but the problem is that right now, they have some individuals that are bailing them out of hard clutches.
They are also countering the anti-strat that the opponents are trying to do. It’s just the way they’re moving as a unit, and individuals is just something that we’ve not seen before, I would say.
But it’s interesting also because everyone knows that at some point, like they can’t keep it up forever, you know? Everything comes to an end eventually. Yeah, I do think that it is possible, but as of right now, everybody is trying to find that something to bring them down.
It’s going to be weird playing against FaZe without Karrigan there
Aleksib On Playing FaZe
Do you think it’s possible to take that next step without adding more superstar players yourself?
I do think so. I just think that if you have a unit that works well together, you can beat any team in Counter-Strike, and obviously, you need quality players, and maybe you need like a world-class player there as well when it comes down to stars.
But you don’t need like three star players to bring them down. I don’t think it will be the case when it happens.
I think that the thing is that maybe like an underrated thing or something that some people speak about, but it’s that if they manage to lose a pistol, they win the second round too many times compared to other teams.
So in MR12, it’s crazy that they’ve kept their consistency there because people were thinking that in MR12, this would be impossible to do. But that’s one of the things that keeps them strong, is that they can win these hero AK rounds or deagle rounds or rounds with one or two saved weapons so much more than other teams.
You need to play flawlessly when you play against them if you want to crack them open, because as soon as they win that round and they get the momentum, it’s just over.
I think to answer what you said, I don’t think it’s needed to have like a god-tier team or something like that. I just think that you need to play good as a unit and to have a solid base, play solid when it comes down to these lower buys to not make any crucial mistakes, money-wise.
It’s going to be very confusing for them, playing a couple of tournaments now with this lineup, then playing the Major, probably even bootcamp with Brollan for the Major.
Aleksib on MOUZ’s roster changes
There have been a couple of roster changes outside of NAVI, and one of them is your Finnish friend, jimpphat. Do you have any reflections on MOUZ’s struggles and whether you think that there’s an explanation for him having a bit of a downturn?
I mean, it was a move, I think everybody understood that MOUZ were to make changes, but to be fair, I didn’t see a MOUZ without jimpphat.
I think that if they wanted to bring Xelex or they wanted to trust him, I think he would have been good in other roles than Jimmy’s, if I’m not mistaken, that he would be taking those spots.
But it’s a tough thing to say when you don’t know the details of the team inside, and something that sometimes. I’ve been in the shoes of where I just hear the community, they want this change, this change, and you know in the team that you require something else, because you have all the details, you understand how everything works.
I still think that it was a mistake to let him go, but who knows? Maybe there was something else to it, contract-wise, anything like that, who knows?
But I do think that they need some time, and it’s going to be very confusing for them, playing a couple of tournaments now with this lineup, then playing the Major, probably even bootcamp with Brollan for the Major.
So I think until next season, it’s hard to paint a picture of what they can be, because they’re going to be playing with different players and they’re going to be practicing with different players now.
So this new guy will probably show glimpses of what he can be, and maybe that’s going to be exciting for the future. But overall, it’s still, it’s very hard to say anything about them, but it’s going to be exciting to see Jayce play for sure.
They’re starting from zero, so that’s just up to the first game and a couple of games after that to see.
Aleksib on FaZe after karrigan’s departure
Your first opponent at this event is going to be FaZe, obviously, Karrigan’s left, and I feel like Karrigan’s really the defining player of FaZe. What do you expect from FaZe?
Yeah, it’s going to be weird playing against FaZe without Karrigan there.
It’s been a while now, whenever we played against FaZe, I always thought, ‘Oh, it’s like something familiar with Karrigan and their style of calling and everything,’ so it’s going to be completely different.
I think it’s going to be pretty confusing for us, since we have no clue about the positions of some players, we don’t have a clue about what they ended up practicing the most, and all this kind of stuff.
So after the veto and after the couple first rounds on the server, I think then we will have a more complete picture. We need to adapt on the fly immediately, but that’s something we are aiming to be ready for.
It’s just going to be exciting to see them play this tournament, and to see that, you know, how are they going to approach the game, is it going to be almost completely the same as where they left off?
Are they trying to play the same way and do the same calls that Karrigan was doing, doing the same style, or is it going to be something completely different? They’re starting from zero, so that’s just up to the first game and a couple of games after that to see.
In terms of your own performances, how many times are you going to win your own map pick at this event?
You know, we’re always aiming to be better, so I was thinking about just throwing a random number out there, but let’s say, we were going to double the amount from the last tournament.
[NAVI won their map pick three of five times at IEM Rio 2026]
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Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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