Natus Vincere’s CS:GO 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.
“Npl played better [against NiP],” B1ad3 said in a post-match interview, according to Escore News. “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.”
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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. The young gun is averaging a 0.94 rating in 2023, according to HLTV, and is the lowest-rated player on NAVI by a reasonable margin in comparison to Perfecto’s 1.02 average rating this season.
The 17-year-old is also having a tough time at the BLAST Paris Major, which is his first Valve-sponsored event. He’s averaged a 0.84 rating thus far at the $1.25 million CS:GO tournament, according to HLTV, 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.
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, electroNic, b1t, and Perfecto keep performing and supporting npl, especially on the CT side.
