After advancing to the playoffs at IEM Cologne 2025, Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy shared insights about his new teammate from the NAVI academy, Makazze, in an interview with Bo3.gg. The Ukrainian rifler evaluated the young player's potential, discussed integration details, and explained how the team maintains the right mindset for crucial tournament matches.

NAVI is once again trying to integrate an academy graduate into the main lineup. We all remember your journey—it was very successful. We remember npl's failure. Now it's Makazze's turn. How do you view this trend compared to buying already established tier-1 players?

Well, first of all, when we take a player from the academy, he's young, and there's a lot we can teach him. Especially if the player absorbs information well, and Drin [Makazze] is just like that. I think we can mold and make him a much stronger player than he is now.

How would you rate his chances of securing a spot on the team?

Good. As I said, he just needs to work and improve every day—and everything will be great.

Did you have to change any roles when Makazze joined the team? Or is he playing in his usual positions?

We mostly gave him the positions he played before. As far as I remember, there are almost no new roles. Maybe on one map. But overall, we left him in his positions to ensure he's as comfortable as possible.

Let's talk about the match against MOUZ. You managed to recover after the loss. What conclusions were drawn?

Regarding MOUZ, I can say that we didn't make any collective conclusions. Personally, I realized that I wasn't prepared for how aggressive they would be on the A site of Mirage. It's a good lesson—we'll fix it in the future.

For those playing on FACEIT, if you're facing aggressive plays on Mirage, what grenades should you use if you're holding a position?

Firstly, if you notice a player frequently pushing through the pit, you can call for an AWP to position in CT or take the AWP yourself and eliminate him if he always comes out first. If he breaks timings, comes out from carpets or pit, and you don't want to bother others—the main task for an anchor on A is not to die in the first stage, especially if there's a fight for mid. You should immediately throw a molotov and smoke into the pit—you have 20 seconds. During this time, you can position yourself in front of the smoke or behind the spark—it's a good spot. Watch the smoke, peek carpets on timing. When the smoke dissipates, your teammate should refresh it. It all depends on the situation. So if there's an aggressive player, block with a smoke, and the opponent has no space for the next 20 seconds. And most importantly, don't die early.

There were only a couple of hours between matches with NIP and FaZe, but it was like you were a different team. Against FaZe, you played effortlessly, everything clicked. What did you change so drastically? Or did B1ad3 say something?

Let's start with the fact that it was a different opponent—FaZe, and the maps were different: Inferno, Ancient. With NIP, there was no Ancient. We handled it quite easily, so maybe the map pool had an impact. Also, we were fired up: we had just played, took a short break, ate, and started playing again. It was like a day of practice—played, took a break, ate, and got back to it.

In the playoffs, your first match will be against The Mongolz. How do you maintain the same vibe as against FaZe?

Well, the vibe will definitely stay because it's Cologne after all. We always strive to keep the vibe good.

How are you preparing for the match against The Mongolz? What's your routine on game day?

Most likely, we'll build a game plan for the team a day before the match. And on the match day, it all depends on the start time. If the game is late, we'll gather, prepare even more, play a bit individually, and head to the arena.

How far do you think you can go in Cologne?

It all depends on how things unfold. We'll try our best to reach the finals.

Do you feel that with jL's departure, the team lacks a fun spirit?

I haven't really thought about it, and it's hard to answer.

Does the psychologist help in preparing for matches?

Yes, we have a morning routine before matches. She tries to help us stay as focused as possible.