Why B1ad3 is not the best CS:GO coach?

The annual HLTV Awards took place recently - the "Oscar" in the world of esports, where not only the best players but also coaches, commentators, and analysts are awarded. One of the nominees for "Coach of the Year" was Andriy B1ad3 Gordenskiy, a Ukrainian esportsman and the Natus Vincere team coach. This news became a reason for criticism from analysts, players, and others. Let's understand why this coach gets such a nomination every year and why many people think this is not deserved. 

The best coach HLTV awards

This nomination includes coaches whose influence on the team is powerful and competent. "Coach of the Year" - a mentor who perfectly coordinates the team and finds a connection with every player, every link in the team. An important criterion is the team's success under an active coach's guidance. 2022 Coach of the Year nominees.

Robert ⁠"RobbaN"⁠ Dahlström

This man who, as a leader, successfully got through the difficult times of FaZe. Robert created the push for karrigan, allowing the player to show his potential. Under the leadership of Robert, FaZe has shown an excellent result this season. Victory at PGL Major, Intel Extreme Masters XVI - Katowice, ESL Pro League, Intel Extreme Masters XVII - Cologne. This explosive wave of wins in 2022 is the result of every player and Robert, who helped the team in every difficult moment.

Eetu “⁠sAw”⁠ Saha

SAw is a coach who united T2 players into a powerful team. ENCE had a successful season in 2019, winning the A-Tier BLAST Pro Series and finishing in various S-Tier tournaments. After this season, the team began a losing streak for three years. sAw became the brain that helped the team become a full-fledged T1 team and show excellent results this season with renewed vigor. 3rd-4th place at PGL Major, 2nd place at Intel Extreme Masters XVII, and 2nd place at ESL Pro League. Within two years, sAw has become one of the most influential coaches among T1 teams.

Andriy "B1ad3" Gorodenskiy

The most famous and most unpredictable coach. According to viewers and fans, Andrey won the Coach of the Year 2021 nomination. Such attention to him appeared due to the fact that Andrei was the first mentor of the legendary players, who found talent and turned the capricious boys into real adult athletes. The Ukrainian coach found the young s1mple and was his mentor in the player's first team. After joining Natus Vincere, Andriy created a new era for the Ukrainian team. An excellent tactician greatly influences the entire NaVi organization due to the team's tremendous success under his leadership. 

B1ad3 critics and reports

Andrey's nomination caused a lot of negative emotions due to the fact that the Ukrainian team showed an abysmal result this season. Navi's last failure was relegation from the recent BLAST Premier, taking 5-6th place. The team's instability after constant reshuffles is a reason to doubt the professionalism of the coach.

Analyst Janko YNk Paunovic stated this during the Talking Counter podcast. According to him, RobbaN looked much more professional than Andrey this season. Robert has achieved many successes and helped the team, while B1ad3 is only tactical coach.

The same reaction was from ordinary viewers on Reddit. The community thinks B1ad3 doesn't deserve to be this year's coach because there's no reason to. Such news became the occasion for jokes from other coaches and the target of criticism from FaZe fans on Twitter.

HLTV forum also did not miss this event. Many users are chanting that RobbaN deserves this title. The main reason for this hatred is NaVi's poor results this season.

B1ade tactics and NaVi results

NaVi's results this season look different from the head coach's great work. Since spring, the team has never reached the top 3 of any prestigious tournament. Constant changes in the team exacerbate the situation. The unstable squad is the main weak point of the Ukrainian team. As was written above, the team needs a key link. More than just a coach-tactician is required now. The result of the season - sdy kicked. After the debut of npl for the yellow-blacks, the Ukrainian coach commented on the unstable roster and the future of NaVi: 

We need to think about everything. We will have a conversation with the players and management, where we will decide the future of the squad. I think if we correct all our mistakes, the team will be able to show a high level of play next season. Lack of success with npl in the roster is not our main problem right now

Also B1ad3 shared his opinion about b1t:

Valera b1t made a lot of mistakes. Lately, he has been failing in the game. Not always, in bursts. Either he loses confidence, or he cannot find a solution how to play better. He began to make a lot of blunders in key rounds that change the course of the game in the opposite direction. There is definitely a need to work with Valera and practice more

The cherry on top is electroNic. The player's lack of experience as a captain is another big problem for the team. With this, B1ad3 announces:

I don't think electroNic has reached his potential as a captain yet. In addition, we are still playing with sdy more as a stand-in, because the club has not officially announced his joining the roster. I think this is also important for electroNic: he needs to know which roster he will play next year in order to understand in which direction to work

Despite all the problems, the Ukrainian coach says that the team has enough time to prepare for the next tournaments and is training well. According to B1ad3, which you can hear in NaVi blog, the organization knows which way to go, and everyone expects a more successful season in 2023.

Summary

B1ad3 is an excellent tactician; no one argues with this, and no one can refute it, but more is needed now. The Ukrainian team lacks expediency and works as a single mechanism during matches. The instability of s1mple, the entire roster, and uncertain calls from the captain make NaVi an easy target for other teams. What actions can improve the situation in the team? Do you agree that B1ad3 should be nominated again for "Coach of the Year"? Write about it in the comments. Share your experience with Cyber-sport.io. Subscribe and follow the latest eSports news!