“It’s hardest to push high ground, we’re working a lot on it” - NAVI midlaner shared insights on team practice

Natus Vincere midlaner Artem Niku Bachkur spoke on Andrii Ghostik Kadyk’s podcast about how the team is training after BLAST SLAM IV, working on their mistakes, and preparing for the next championship. At the tournament, the team finished 9th–10th, failing to reach the playoffs.

According to the player, the team did not take a break after the event and immediately returned to active practice. Every day, NAVI plays several scrims against strong opponents, improving their gameplay and refining team patterns - especially when pushing high ground.

We play a lot of scrims, analyze mistakes, and focus on high-ground pushes - with Aegis, we have no right to throw. We made a lot of mistakes in past tournaments and are working on fixing them now.

The player also emphasized that with the arrival of new coach Aske Cy- Larsen, the team started paying more attention to details: analyzing laning phases, testing different hero combinations, and experimenting with drafts. According to Niku, the coach not only helps strategically but also develops individual aspects of the game, including laning and positioning.

A key part of NAVI’s preparation is working with a psychologist - the collaboration began before The International 2025, where the team finished 14th–15th, reaching the fifth round of the group stage. According to the player, both team and individual sessions help manage tilt and maintain composure even after unsuccessful maps.

After the game, you come to the psychologist, talk about what you felt - simple breathing techniques, and in 95% of cases the issue is resolved. It really helps us.

In addition, the team is gradually switching to English communication during matches. According to Niku, this helps remove unnecessary emotions and makes in-game calls more concise and clear.

At the end of the podcast, the player noted that NAVI feel their progress and aim to establish themselves as a stable tier-1 team. Their next challenge will be PGL Wallachia Season 6, which the team qualified for through the European qualifiers. The tournament will take place from 15.11.2025 to 23.11.2025, in Bucharest, Romania. The full podcast is available on Andrii Ghostik Kadyk’s YouTube channel.

Recall that NAVI managed to qualify for several top tournaments in a row, achieving an impressive streak of 11 consecutive wins in qualifiers.

Earlier, CyberScore reported Vladimir No[o]ne Minenko’s opinion on the best roster changes after TI14.