Despite cruising through the BLAST Open Porto group stage without dropping a single map against DENDELE, G2, and FURIA, Spirit's Myroslav "zont1x" Plakhotia remains cautious about declaring his squad the world's best.
Speaking to HLTV before the playoffs, the Ukrainian rifler acknowledged that the team still has room for improvement. He noted that not everyone is performing at their peak individually, though their group stage run was comfortable overall. If they can address these issues, he believes they'll be well-positioned for the knockout rounds.
One interesting development was Spirit's performance on Cache, a map that troubled them at Esports World Cup. Multiple opponents tried exploiting this perceived weakness, only to lose every time. The player explained that Cache presented similar challenges to Train as a newly introduced map, requiring time and practice to understand the optimal approach.
When pressed about whether Spirit deserves the title of world's best team, he deflected the question entirely. He pointed to recent losses against JiJieHao, close matches with BIG, and a grand final defeat to MOUZ as evidence that the discussion is premature. Unlike Vitality's dominant five-tournament winning streak that made their status obvious, Spirit hasn't achieved the significant results needed to make such a claim.
The player dismissed the importance of media narratives around motivation and team rankings, stating he doesn't care if his words get misinterpreted. He knows what he means, and that's enough for him. When asked if Spirit can win BLAST Open Porto, his answer was simple and direct: yes.
