iM responds to critics: People don’t know how tier-1 CS works
We caught up with the Romanian rifler to discuss the criticism from the community and him getting more responsibility in NAVI.
Mihai "iM" Ivan has not delivered the same numbers in NAVI that he so impressively showcased in GamerLegion. Not at all in fact.
So, is the Romanian rifler good enough to play for such a big organization like NAVI?
If you look at social media, Reddit and the HLTV forum for the answer, there seems to be a general notion that Mihai "iM" Ivan isn’t the right fit. Especially when NAVI is losing or struggling, you’ll find countless people demanding his benching.
- I don’t think there’s a lot of criticism and hate from analysts, Mihai "iM" Ivan starts off when speaking to Pley.gg about the scepticism around him.
- It’s only from people on the forums who don’t know a lot about what’s going on behind the scenes, what happens in a team and how tier-1 CS works. “For the time I don’t read the comments about me on social media and HTLV. Sometimes I see some bad messages that I have to be kicked and stuff like this, but I don’t care that much. People can think whatever they want. They will still shit on me when I play bad, and they will still praise me when I play good. It’s always the same.
- People can only base their opinions on what they know, which can be hard. For example, sometimes I watch Champions League football and I say “why does this player not pass better” or “why does he shoot instead of another player”, but I have no clue if there’s good reasoning behind it.
What does NAVI feel?
With a fresh Major trophy from PGL Major Copenhagen in the cabinet, NAVI seems to be more than happy for Mihai "iM" Ivan. Going into ESL Pro League Season 19, NAVI head coach Andrii “b1ad3” Gorodenskyi revealed that they’re giving the 24-year-old more responsibility.
Something, Mihai "iM" Ivan also confirmed to Pley.gg on Monday.
- We are working on me calling a lot more in the game. Basically, as a second caller in mid-rounds and freeze time to find more gaps and to take more risks. It’s great for me to have such a legendary coach as b1ad3 to test me with this task.
- All of this started when Andrii [b1ad3] asked the team who wanted to be the second voice, but no one kind of wanted to take it. Then, I was like “Okay, I will take it”. Because I like to talk a lot on the server to my IGL and teammates, and then I just started talking more and more and coming up with ideas. I have done it in bootcamp already. And I don’t really worry that my individual level will drop from this. It can happen, but you can’t do shit about it because someone needs to talk or then it’s just full salad on the map and we will be wasting time in the round.
NAVI is set to kick off their run at ESL Pro League Season 19 on Wednesday when they are facing up against the underdogs from FlyQuest.
