Natus Vincere, or NAVI, is a world-famous Ukrainian esports organization that has achieved success in many disciplines, including CS:GO, CS 2, Dota 2, and others. The organization also has a Valorant roster, formed back in 2021, but unlike its other divisions, the Valorant lineup has not brought any significant achievements even after four years. Recently, they failed once again. Today, we’ll look back at NAVI’s performance in 2024, their rough start in the 2025 competitive season, and try to determine the reason for these results.

NAVI’s Performance During VCT 2024

NAVI kicked off the competitive season with roster changes in their Valorant lineup. Three new players joined the team at that time: Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin, Pontus “Zyppan” Eek, and Mehmet “cNed” İpek, along with two new coaches. They joined the core of Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov and Andrei “Shao” Kiprskii, and with this refreshed lineup fuelled by the excitement and hopes of the fans - the team began a new season.

However, despite the ambitious roster and expectations, they started 2023 by missing the first international tournament. At the first regional event, VCT 2024: EMEA Kickoff, which served as a qualifier for Masters Madrid, the team took 3rd-4th place. As a result, they did not make it to the Masters, since only the top two teams received invitations.

NAVI had two more regional qualifiers ahead of them. The first was VCT 2024: EMEA Stage 1, which acted as a qualifying event for the next Masters Shanghai. Although three invitations were up for grabs, NAVI again came away with nothing, finishing 5th-6th out of 11 teams.

The last tournament of 2024 was VCT 2024: EMEA Stage 2, where teams fought for spots at the world championship. As you might guess, NAVI failed once again, taking 5th-6th place and missing out on Valorant Champions 2025.

As a result, over the entire 2024 season, the team not only skipped every international tournament but also earned just $10,000, an amount that hardly covers salaries for both players and coaching staff.

Roster Changes

Despite such results, the team did not give up, and before the start of 2025, they once again carried out drastic roster changes. After parting ways with three players, NAVI welcomed: Emirhan “hiro” Kat, who had previously played for Fnatic, GianFranco “koalanoob” Potestio and Uğur “Ruxic” Güç, neither of whom had any tier-1 experience in the past. Still, the core of ANGE1 and Shao remained on the team, which was supposed to offer a balance between experience and ambition, ultimately creating solid synergy.

A Disappointing Start to the New Season

Unfortunately for fans and viewers alike, that anticipated synergy has not yet materialized. At the beginning of 2025, each competitive region held qualifiers for Masters Mangkok, and NAVI, like every other VCT EMEA team, started their journey at VCT 2025: EMEA Kickoff.

If you’ve been following our portal, you know things didn’t go well for NAVI once again. They lost their first match against Karmine Corp with a score of 1:2, and if we look at the maps, it was a decisive defeat: on the second map, Bind, the score was 2:13, and on the third, Lotus, 6:13. As a result, NAVI dropped to the lower bracket, where they faced Fnatic. Both teams showed decent play and were fighting for their last chance to remain in the tournament, but it was Fnatic who took advantage. After three maps, NAVI lost the elimination match 1:2, finishing in one of the 9th-12th places overall.

This means that over the last 11 months, NAVI have not participated in a single major international tournament and have earned only $10,000 for the organization, which is a disheartening figure.

Why These Results?

Four international LAN events, and NAVI’s Valorant squad missed all four. So what is the reason behind these consistently poor outcomes? Below are some possible explanations that we believe are the most logical and shed light on NAVI’s failures.

Stagnation of the Main Roster

The first reason could be that the team’s core - Shao and ANGE1 — has simply remained under the NAVI banner for too long. Both players joined the club in 2022 and have played countless matches since then. Regardless of tournament results, the organization replaced everyone else except this duo. On paper, it seemed that bringing in enough “fresh blood” at the beginning of 2025 to combine it with the experience of the two veterans would form a working combo. Unfortunately, it hasn’t worked out so far.

Lack of Experience Playing Together

This is a common issue for teams that replace two or more players. NAVI haven’t yet built sufficient in-game synergy because the three newcomers joined the team just last month. On the other hand, both teams that beat NAVI in this tournament went through similar changes KC replaced four players, while Fnatic replaced two-yet they still managed to win against NAVI.

Players’ Age Is Too High

Another potential, albeit sensitive, reason could be the age of one of the players, specifically ANGE1. The Ukrainian captain turned 35 this year, making him one of the oldest active professional Valorant players. Yes, experience is valuable, but esports relies heavily on reaction speed and sharpness, which unfortunately decline with age. As a result, ANGE1 can struggle to compete with younger players, as is often evident in the post-match scoreboard, where his KD is typically the lowest.

Below is a screenshot of the results after the match against Fnatic:

And after the match with Karmine Corp:

Inexperience of the New Players

An equally significant factor is that of the three newcomers, only hiro had previous experience at the tier-1 level. The other two, coming from the tier-2 Challengers league, have faced a considerably lower level of competition. In just a month, they simply haven’t had enough time to prepare and adapt to facing the top EMEA players, which is likely another reason for the team’s struggles.

Players’ Reaction to the Loss and Elimination

After the 1-2 loss to Fnatic and elimination from EMEA Kickoff which marks the fourth consecutive missed international tournament - NAVI players took to their social media, with four of the five apologizing to fans and stating that they could have played much better. They also emphasized that this is not the end, and that they will be ready for everything in Stage 1.

Lost 2-1 to FNATIC. I could’ve played 100 times better individually, but I promise I’ll be in top shape for Stage 1. I’m so proud of the guys; we’ve started playing so much better in such a short time. Thank you for your support.

Koalanoob

1-2 against Fnatic. We performed much better than our last match, and gained valuable experience, especially for our newcomers. I promise we’ll come back stronger in Split 1. GGWP!

Shao

1-2 vs FNATIC. It’s frustrating to lose, but it was a good learning experience. See you in Split 1

Hiro

1-2 vs FNATIC. We couldn’t close out the map, but it was a very good experience. I’m proud of my team. See you in Split 1

Ruxic

What lies ahead for the Team

After their elimination from VCT 2025: EMEA Kickoff, NAVI will have a period of downtime that they can use for training. From February to March 2025, Masters Bangkok will take place, which the team did not qualify for. Hence, NAVI’s next opportunity will be VCT 2025: EMEA Stage 1, expected to start in mid-April or May of 2025. The team will have ample time to build synergy and train their new players, and perhaps by mid-spring, we may witness a resurgence of the “Born to Win.” Stay tuned to our portal for more intriguing updates on NAVI and other professional Valorant teams.