Recently, NAVI decided to take a risky step and replace three players at once. Additionally, for the first time in the organization's history, the team will use English as their communication language, instead of Russian. It's clear that such changes might have led to worse results, for which NAVI is criticized by fans. But were the team's first three tournaments really so unsuccessful? For comparison, let's look at the first three events of the last five updated NAVI rosters.
NAVI 2020 (flamie, s1mple, electroNic, Boombl4, Perfecto)
In February 2020, Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutsky joined the team, replacing the Slovak Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács. The Russian made his debut at ICE Challenge 2020, a LAN tournament in London with a prize pool of $250,000. The team immediately won three consecutive matches and only lost in the final to MOUZ.
Next was the BLAST Premier Spring Series 2020, where NAVI took 1-3rd place and advanced to the BLAST Premier European Finals Spring 2020. Then came IEM Katowice 2020, where NAVI clinched the first place. In the final, Perfecto played his legendary map Mirage, where he didn't die once on the CT side. A fantastic debut and impressive results from the revamped Natus Vincere.
NAVI 2021 (s1mple, electroNic, Boombl4, Perfecto, b1t)
Approximately half a year after the last replacement, NAVI gradually began introducing academy player Valerii “b1t” Vakhovsky into the lineup. The young Ukrainian replaced Egor “flamie” Vasilyev on several maps, who was facing motivation issues. In April 2021, b1t became a full-fledged NAVI player and immediately helped the team win DreamHack Masters Spring 2021.
Later, following the infamous defeat to Akuma, the team secured a fifth place at EPIC League CIS Spring 2021. The third tournament was BLAST Premier Finals Spring 2021, where NAVI were defeated by Gambit in the finals. Throughout the debut tournaments, b1t demonstrated mature and confident gameplay, helping the team to achieve good results.
NAVI 2022 (s1mple, electroNic, Perfecto, b1t, sdy)
The organization didn't change its lineup for more than a year, and during this period won everything possible. However, reality unfolded in a way that Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov's presence carried reputational risks, so he was replaced by Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev.
With him, NAVI immediately won the BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022 and made it to the finals of IEM Cologne 2022, where after a wild BO5 final, they succumbed to FaZe. The team played in the BLAST Premier Groups Fall 2022 in the next season, but there were no problems – a confident progression to the next stage. Viktor is a very smart player who knows how to play for the team. That's why it wasn't hard for him to adapt to the NAVI structure and allow the team to demonstrate results with the previous tactics for some more time.
NAVI 2023 (s1mple, electroNic, Perfecto, b1t, npl)
With the young newcomer, NAVI secured the 4-6 place at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2023 and progressed to IEM Katowice 2023 and ESL Pro League Season 17. The team remained at the top and was considered a contender for victory at every tournament. However, it was evident that npl was not quite ready for the highest level and often became the weak link in the team during decisive matches.
NAVI 2023 (s1mple, b1t, Aleksib, jL, iM)
A new chapter in NAVI's history began at the end of June. Long-time leaders Denis “electroNic” Sharipov and Perfecto, along with the newcomer npl, left the team. They were replaced by Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, Justinas “jL” Lekavičius, and Mihai “iM” Ivan.
The team started their journey at the BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023, where they managed to advance to the next stage despite significant difficulties. After this, NAVI attended IEM Cologne 2023 and secured the 7-8th place, losing to Astralis in the match determining playoff advancement. At Gamers8 2023, the squad managed to defeat FURIA, but then faced Vitality, managing to take only 13 rounds against them.
The new NAVI lineup faces the most problems at the start. The team lacks the balance previously created by the coach's structure. Now, the system is being rebuilt from scratch with a new captain who has his own vision of the game, different from the previous NAVI leaders who were shaped as captains under B1ad3's guidance.
The team's results confirm that they deserve criticism, but it's also clear that NAVI needs time to gel. The ESL Pro League Season 18 can be a breakthrough, as just before this tournament the team had a month without official matches and worked hard at the boot camp.
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