"You could lurk for 7-8 rounds in a row in 2021" - nAts on the evolution of lurking in VCT, Enzo's impact as an IGL and playing against Sayf

Team Liquid has started their VCT EMEA Stage 2 campaign with a 2-0 loss against Team Vitality. The EMEA roster had close contests on Lotus and Icebox with a spirited comeback on the latter map. However, the team failed to close it out during crucial moments and now finds itself with a 3-4 record in the overall standings. Despite Team Liquid's inconsistent performances in 2024, Ayaz "nAts" Akhmetshin has been a consistent performer for the team.

A legend of the game who broke into the scene in 2021 with Gambit Esports, nAts revolutionized the concept of lurking and has remained one of the most beloved players in the pro scene. After Team Liquid's defeat against Team Vitality, I had the great opportunity to have a chat with nAts.

Team Liquid's nAts talks about loss against Team Vitality, Neon, and Iso buffs and the mentality of CIS teams compared to EU teams

Q: Hello nAts. Commiserations on the loss. It was a pretty close series that went on for quite a while. Are you feeling exhausted right now?

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nAts: To be honest, it's fine. I was ready to play another map if we won the overtime on Icebox. It wasn't quite exhausting.

Q: What did you think about the team's performance today and what improvements can be made for the upcoming matches?

nAts: I think if we played some of the important moments better today, it would have been easier for us even though Vitality was playing very well. We lost some of the key rounds on Lotus and we lost three 1v2s on Icebox against Sayf, runneR, and ceNder. We also won a lot of clutches too. I think we were doing pretty fine in some moments.

A loss is room for improvement and we will watch this match to understand some of the changes we need to make in our defaults and stuff like that.

Q: Sayf returned to his Duelist role today and you had the opportunity to play with him for an entire year. How did it feel to play against your former teammate?

nAts: To be honest, I am not really paying attention to anyone I am playing against. I am thinking more about the Agents and what they can do. Of course, Sayf is a very good Duelist. I was playing with him in 2023 so I know how he is when he plays Duelist. However, I was thinking more about what Neon and Jett can do on the map. I think Sayf played really well on Lotus.

Q: On the topic of Duelist Agents, what do you think about the recent buffs to Neon and Iso?

nAts: I am not sure about the Neon buffs. I think it's a good buff for ranked play but losing a stun is not good in terms of pro play. Even today, we saw Sayf always use double stuns. I can't imagine him playing Neon on Lotus with a solo stun. Having two slides is not enough if there isn't anything on top of it.

Everyone is speaking about Iso and he is very good as you can start the round with a shield. I don't know if any pro teams are going to bring Iso out on the EMEA stage. I am pretty sure different regions will bring but I am not too sure about EMEA. I think Iso is very strong right now.

Q: Did the team expect Vitality to pick Icebox against you as Team Liquid has a strong track record on this map in 2024?

nAts: We were expecting Icebox to be in the map veto so Vitality deciding to pick Icebox wasn't a big surprise because we were expecting either Icebox or another map, which I don't want to say since I don't want to reveal our whole map veto. I think Vitality was also not surprised that we picked Lotus so the map veto was kind of understandable.

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Q: Some teams from other regions have opted to play no Duelist team comps on Icebox and certain pros have vouched for it too. What do you think about the viability of this team comp as an alternative strategy to the standard Icebox team comps?

nAts: I think it's a good strategy. As you said, there are teams who are playing on Icebox with no Duelist but I think their main idea is to fight as a team since you can put Wingman and the Sage Wall. It is technically no Duelist but you are always fighting because there is already Wingman doing the stuff of planting the Spike and there is Sage to protect the Wingman.

It is a hard team comp to play against at times but you just have to understand some of the stuff that this team comp lacks.

Q: How does Enzo differ as an IGL compared to Redgar? Have you seen any noticeable differences?

nAts: I need to think about what Enzo exactly brings to the team while also not giving away how the team works too much. First of all, Enzo's English is better than Redgar's so it's easier for the former to explain the situation and what he wants to do.

There is nothing bad about Redgar as English is not his main language, which is the same case for me. I also face some problems with communicating fast enough even though I feel like I am speaking normally. I think this is the main difference. Overall, they have two different styles of IGLing but going too in-depth is something I can't exactly say for obvious reasons.

Q: What are the biggest differences you have noticed in terms of a team's mentality in CIS and EU rosters, if any?

nAts: I think the mentality is pretty much the same for everyone at the pro level. It's not a region thing specifically, but it's more about players having a stronger mentality or not. For now, from the teams that I have played on, there are players who have slightly less confidence but they quickly gain this confidence as they are in a team environment.

I wouldn't say there is a massive difference and it's more of a team thing since Valorant is a team game and everyone has to help each other out.

Q: As one of the original VCT players since 2021, what do you think about the evolution of the game from its early days and the whole concept of lurking as well?

nAts: The game has improved and so has everyone. Lurking is still an important thing, in my opinion, but it works differently now. It's not like how it was in 2021 where I could lurk for seven-eight rounds in a row. You can do that now as well if you just win the gun fights but now players take better positions and understand where the gun fights are most likely going to happen.

It's a little bit harder to lurk now but at the same time, you can lurk differently. You can let the players think you are lurking and keep them there. That's why I think lurking is always going to work since it's more about how the players approach it, how they take the timings, and make their opponents think about lurks.

Q: Any thoughts that you would like to share with the fans supporting Team Liquid and you?

nAts: As always, thank you so much for supporting us. Keep supporting us even though sometimes we are not showing the best results. We are going to improve for sure. Love you everyone and thank you.

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Edited by Jito Tenson