BACK
[09]
Feb 05, 2026

NAVI's CS2 captain lamented the team's inability to find a way to counter Team Spirit.

Michael Torres
By Michael Torres Video Game News and Features Editor
Last updated: Feb 05, 2026
Navis cs2 captain lamented the teams inability to find a way to counter team spirit 3

NAVI CS2 Captain Laments Team's Inability to Find a Key Against Team Spirit

The captain of Natus Vincere in Counter-Strike 2, Aleksi " Aleksib " Virolainen, gave an interview following the team's defeat to Team Spirit in the group stage of IEM Krakow 2026. The Finnish in-game leader admitted that the team is stagnating in matches against the "Dragons" and currently cannot meet the organization's ambitions.

Systemic Issues

Virolainen noted that NAVI regularly lose to Team Spirit, and the coaching staff has so far been unable to find an effective antidote to the opponent's style.

"I have been with NAVI for a long time and I know what the organization expects from us. Right now, I don't think we are showing a good enough level. We want to beat teams like this. But we keep losing to Team Spirit again and again, and we still haven't found the right solution."

Match Analysis

According to the captain, the 0:2 defeat was not a result of any surprises from the updated Team Spirit roster (with the returned magixx and zont1x). The problem lay in the opponent's high-quality preparation and NAVI's own late adaptation.

  • Mirage

    • Spirit perfectly read NAVI's defense on this map. Virolainen believes that losing their own map pick was the turning point of the series.

  • Predictability

    • Aleksib emphasized that they didn't see anything fundamentally new, but the opponent was simply better prepared tactically.

Tournament Standings

  • The match ended in a clean sweep for NAVI. Aleksib himself had an unsuccessful series, finishing the game with a rating of 0.76.

  • Natus Vincere dropped to the lower bracket, where they have no room for error.

  • Later today, February 2 at 9:00 PM Moscow Time, the team will play an elimination match against the Brazilians from FURIA.

Previously, Team Spirit cleanly defeated NAVI at the tournament in Krakow, with Danil " donk " Kryshkovets showing one of the best performances of his career. The captain of the losing team, Aleksi Virolainen, lamented that they keep losing to the "Dragons" and still haven't found a solution to this problem.

Recently, Team Spirit rifler Andrey Tatarinov spoke about the difficulties of adapting to the updated roster after the victory over NAVI. The leader of the Ukrainian club, Aleksi Virolainen, also commented on this match, noting that the opponent didn't show anything new but perfectly read their game.