npl: "在NAVI的时光给了我很多，尤其是B1ad3"

The Ukrainian player opened up on his time with NAVI and taking on the IGL role with B8.

B8 have locked up a spot in the semi-final stage of Elisa Masters Espoo after a convincing 2-0 victory over hometown favorites JANO. The victory puts the Ukrainian team on a collision course with HEROIC in the first round of the playoffs.

It has been over a year since Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi joined B8 after his unsuccessful spell in Natus Vincere's main squad. Away from the pressure of playing on one of the world's best and most decorated teams, npl has developed his craft as a player and IGL of a young squad with an average age of 21.3. This year he is averaging a respectable 1.18 rating.

After the match against JANO, npl sat down with HLTV to discuss an array of topics, including his nickname, his time on Natus Vincere and what it has been like to be a star player and an IGL — a combo he believes will become the new norm in the future.

I'm here with...

npl (en pee ell).

We're going with npl?

Or you can say nipl (nipple).

I was going to say nipl, that's why I let you go in.

Before NAVI everyone called me nipl, but after, even I started calling myself npl instead of nipl, but it's fine both ways.

Do you have a preference?

For me it's better to be nipl because it's something strange for the casters, but I don't care.

I was a bit scared playing with s1mple and these legends who won the Major, but they helped me a lot Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi

Before we started the interview, we were talking about how it's been a while since I've seen you, but when I see you now, I think of that meme that says 'unbothered, moisturized, happy, in my lane, focused, flourishing.' Tell me about your progress from struggling in NAVI to playing with B8 and putting on some pretty impressive [personal] performances.

When I joined NAVI, I was the little guy who joined from the academy team. I was a bit scared playing with s1mple and these legends who won the Major, but they helped me a lot. The time in NAVI gave me a lot, especially B1ad3 and the other guys, because they had a lot of experience, and I managed to keep it with me. I didn't forget about it. [Laughs]

When I joined B8 I felt like I was the guy that s1mple was for me on NAVI. I worked a lot on my game, changed a lot of things, and my new coach, maddened, also gave me a lot.

And you're calling now, right?

Yes, I'm also the IGL right now. I took this role maybe like a year ago, I can't remember. At the time, we didn't have players who could IGL because they didn't have experience. For me, it was easier because I was playing in a tier-one team, and I saw what the IGL needs to have to be an IGL.

That's the future of CS, the IGL who plays the playmaker roles will be better than the default IGL Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi

You're calling and you still manage to frag out. How is that for you, learning how to call and performing well? I guess after NAVI you didn't have all of your confidence, maybe it was a bit shaken.

Yeah, I didn't have the confidence that I have right now. My coach in B8 helped me with that; he told me some things that helped me, and now it's okay. At the start of being an IGL, I had struggles, but that's the experience of an IGL.

You can see it's not only me. I mean, I'm not a tier-one IGL, but you can see that Twistzz is a tier-one IGL, calling a lot, and performing well. I think that's the future because a lot of IGLs right now can frag, and they're rotator players.

They can get the good positions, frag and call.

I think that's the future of CS, the IGL who plays the playmaker roles will be better than the default IGL, like karrigan or Aleksib. I'm not saying they're bad, but they'll be more impactful.

It wasn't a big stage, but I was happy I could play here because I felt something I hadn't felt for a long time Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi

You got headtr1ck after he left NIP, and he replaced r1nkle, who was also a really good AWPer, but he brings a bit more experience with him. How was that for you, getting another player with some more experience into the team?

I told my coach that this would probably help us more because headtr1ck had played even more than me in tier one, and he had the experience to help others, not only me and the coach.

That worked well because we have a system, and headtr1ck even said in an interview that you can critique your teammates, and it's not something special. They can take criticism, so everyone is working for the team's success.

It's a small stage today, but still a stage. You and headtr1ck have some experience, but the rest probably not so much, so how was it to get on stage today and play in front of a crowd?

It wasn't a big stage, but I was happy I could play here because I felt something I hadn't felt for a long time. I told the guys, 'You don't have to be stressed, just enjoy the moment, you're playing against a Finnish team with their crowd and it's even better than playing with a crowd that supports you because you won't have a lot of experiences like that, with the crowd shouting against you.' Except for me and headtr1ck, the other three guys played well on the second map. They showed a very good performance.

You'll get to repeat it in the playoffs, as well.

Yeah, and against a better opponent, with all due respect.

Speaking of better opponents, I asked headtr1ck about the veto against The MongolZ, but he wasn't there. About banning Vertigo in the first round of bans. Were you showing a bit of respect there or were you afraid or what happened there?

No, no. Because of the big delays we weren't able to prepare well for them because we thought that JANO might beat them. It's a best-of-one, they're the underdogs, and they might surprise. So we didn't prepare well because we had like 30 minutes maximum and we had to go to the practice room to see the map pool, but we weren't thinking about that.

When we banned Vertigo, it was me, maddened, bLitz, and then he called mzinho. When maddened said w were banning Vertigo, bLitz was shocked, he called mzinho and was like, 'What should we ban?' or something like that. Then I understood that their permaban was Vertigo.

But we're not the kind of team that's showing respect in the veto because we're sure we could win Vertigo or any other map we don't play in the future if it's also the other team's permaban. So yeah, that was just a mistake or unlucky because of the tech issues.

We have two tournaments before the RMR and we're using them to gain experience on the stage, on LAN, to get more comfortable for the RMR Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi

You're playing here at Elisa which is a good event to get some practice, put it in some reps, and you're getting some stage time, as well, but the RMR is coming up.

And ESLC Katowice.

Yes, but I'm curious about the RMR because B8 is a team that kind of became famous at the RMRs when they had several close calls. alex666 and cptkurtka023 were on those lineups. Is that something you've talked about at all? Are they hungry to finally do well at the RMR?

No, we didn't talk about that. We have two tournaments before the RMR and we're using them to gain experience on the stage, on LAN, to get more comfortable for the RMR. This RMR has some pretty strange seeding because there are low-seed or mid-seed teams playing against each other. There's nothing to say.

You're playing Spirit.

Yeah, we're playing Spirit. In my opinion we don't have a fair seed, I think we're more like in the middle or high-middle in our group, and everyone considers us that.

Tell me a bit about how the games here have gone. You got the close one against NIP, then The MongolZ were more in control, and now you got to play JANO on stage. Ancient got a bit close in the end but you pulled through. How has the team been performing?

Let's start with the first match, against NIP. That was a very important match for us, and especially for headtr1ck, because if we won that match we would play on stage, and that's the experience we need. We started well on T-side, then they started to play one round, executing A, and it was our mistake that we couldn't control it. But we closed the game.

Then we had the game against The MongolZ. We made mistakes that we couldn't come back from. On Nuke we only had four buys, almost every round was an eco or force. That was very hard to come back from. We tried to, but it didn't work well. We started well on Inferno, but we lost to a 3vs5 or a force, and it didn't go well.

Now we played against JANO on stage. It wasn't a hard game because they were maybe nervous. Twice I killed people when I was running and they didn't turn around towards me.

Things that happen on stage.

Yeah, maybe because of the stage.

You're playing HEROIC next. It's a team that struggled for a little while, but they showed in Rio that they're good, and they have cleared all their hurdles here. How do you feel about playing them?

We know their playstyle. We practiced a lot against them and played against them in the Rio closed qualifier, where they performed well. We had two chances to close against them on two maps; it was a close game. We don't think they're better than The MongolZ, and I think we have good chances to win.