Journalist Richard Lewis criticized the work of Natus Vincere coach Andrei «Blad3» Gorodensky in a recent conversation with Duncan «Thorin» Shields on a Counter Strike podcast episode. He believes his qualifications are not up to par with the level of players and the challenges the team is facing. In his opinion, it is the coach who is to blame for the fact that the team makes mistakes from time to time and does not alternate high achievements with unexpected losses.
At the same time, it was under Blad3's leadership that NAVI scored major victories, becoming leaders of IEM Katowice 2020 and BLAST Premier 2020. Not surprisingly, shortly after Lewis's remarks were published, responses to this criticism began to appear as well. In particular, Alexei «yXo» Maletsky noted that Lewis and Shields themselves are not qualified and experienced enough in professional cybersports to judge the level of other teams and players. Commentator Vitaly «v1lat» Volochai ironically responded to Lewis' remarks, noting that the critics have a grudge against CIS cybersports, yet they themselves demonstrate unprofessionalism by clashing with their employers. This was followed by an altercation on Twitter, in which both sides made a lot of unflattering remarks.
Recently, Natus Vincere performed poorly at IEM Katowice 2021, which was the reason for the criticism. Their next big matches will be at ESL Pro League Season 13, and fans of the team are hoping that they can be more successful this time around.