NaToSaphiX: My time at Heroic would have worked out better for me if I was signed today

Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen has throughout his career represented strong teams as Sprout, Heroic, and Nordavind including stand-in spots at Complexity and mousesports. However, something still feels a bit unresolved when speaking about the skilled AWPer from Denmark, who currently plays out-of-contract at Lyngby Vikings.

Although having played at these renowned CS:GO teams, NaToSaphiX haven’t managed to fully establish his name on the Counter-Strike scene. In this interview, the 24-year old player touches on some of the reasons why, and how issues outside of the server ruined his time at Heroic.

Why haven’t you established yourself as a regular starter over an extended period of time, at some of your previous teams?

"I think my time at Heroic could have worked out better for me, but I think it came at a very bad point in my life and I wish that it would have come today instead. I was pushed into a different role than the one I joined for, and my performance was just not good enough in the new role.

I also had some issues with things outside of CS which took a massive toll on my mental health as well, which didn’t make things easier. I actually wanted to quit the team. Mentally I was out of that team for a few months before I got the boot."

Heroic anno July 2019: stavn - es3tag - blameF - NaTosaphiX - friberg

"The Nordavind story is kind of outlined previously and didn't really have anything to do with performance, personality, toxicity or things like that.
But I wrote to my agent 2-3 months before I went to the bench that I was thinking of quitting the team because I disagreed with the approach and I felt it never would get better with this 5-man roster.
And I am not the type of guy to ever try to force another player out of a team, so if I feel that something is not working, I would rather be the one to go. I'm pretty sure they are better off without me and I without them, which is both happy and sad."

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/video-natosaphix-gets-insane-awp-ace-against-sprout/","text":"Read more: Video: NaToSaphiX gets an insane AWP ace against Sprout"}]

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/video-natosaphix-gets-astounding-pistol-ace-against-polish-legends/","text":"Read more: Video: NaToSaphiX gets an astounding pistol ace against Polish legends"}]

You have streamed many hours of CS:GO on Twitch since your benching at Nordavind back in August. Did you deliberately focus on streaming in that period, and did you at any time consider going full-time as a CS:GO streamer?

"I was very clear with the Nordavind organisation that I was looking for a new team from day 1 on. Unfortunately, there were many very exciting "almost deals” but nothing that actually ended up happening. But at the same time, I was fortunate enough to have a solid contract, meaning I was still being paid 100% salary while on the bench. And that meant I didn't need to rush into a new team, instead, I kept grinding (while streaming, primarily) and waited for the "perfect" opportunity.

That never really came, as many of the deals that could or should have happened ended up fading away. I still believe it was the right decision to focus on myself, my stream and not rushing into something that I would have regretted later on.

And I did consider becoming a full-time streamer but even though it was fun to do, I could never be a full-time CS:GO streamer, unless I had a good group of friends to play with."

NaToSaphiX ace on stream

NaToSaphiX has earlier opened up on his desire to develop into an in-game leader as he recently has stated “I think playing IGL is something I'd really like to do later in my career, as it's a role that takes more than just pointing and shooting.” Something you can read about in our previous interview with NaToSaphix right below.

[link:{"url":"https://pley.gg/news/natosaphix-i-dont-think-could-ever-happy-team-where-felt-opinion-wasnt-valued/","text":"Read more: NaToSaphiX: “I don't think I could ever be happy in a team where I felt my opinion wasn’t valued”"}]