After successive achievements in 2021, Natus Vincere has not yet achieved the desired victories in 2022. They participated in PGL Major Antwerp and lost to FaZe in the grand final.
As always, after each CS:GO Major, some teams begin to change parts in their templates. Added to this traditional reason is the current war in Ukraine. Natus Vincere, as the Ukrainian organization, was most affected by the changes in their roster. Today, we are going to discuss:
- all the modifications made on NaVi,
- current team players for ВLAST Premier: Spring Finals
- the whole mood of the team and its future in CS:GO
Players’ Dance: From the Exit of Boombl4 to S1mple’s Break
The war in Ukraine triggered rumors about the future of Boombl4, electronic, and Perfecto. Once the club has declared the changes in its workforce on the official website, we can say how these have directly affected the players.
The Condition Put by Management
Yevhenii Zolotarov, CEO of Natus Vincere, has already confirmed that the entity would not work with players living in Russia. So it is understood that electronic and Perfecto have had to change their residence, something that Вoombl4 would not have accepted.
The Departure of Вoombl4
Вoombl4 arrived at Natus Vincere in May 2019 and took over the role of in-game leader months later. During 2020-21, under his leadership, NaVi gained the reputation as the best team on the international CS:GO scene after winning such titles as:
- the IEM in Cologne
- the ESL Pro League Season 14
- the Major in Stockholm
- the BLAST Premier: World Final
However, after the start of the war in Ukraine, Natus Vincere announced the departure of Kirill “Вoombl4” Mikhaylov from his starting team. It was not due to sporting reasons. As we have said earlier, the organization refused to work with players who live in Russia and pay taxes to their government.
The Arrival of sdy
For the time being, Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev will be the stand-in of the Ukrainian organization in the next tournaments. Professional statistical highlights and csgo leaderboard for sdy are listed below:
- Current HLTV rating 2.0: 1.11
- Nationality: Ukrainian
- Player role: rifler
- Current team: NaVi (June 2022 – Present)
- Teams played: MAD Lions (Jan 2022 – Apr 2022), Spirit (Dec 2017 – Jan 2022)
- Kills per round: 0.65
- Deaths per round: 0.61
- Achievements: 1st place at the REPUBLEAGUE S3 and the Pinnacle Cup 2, 3rd place at the IEM S15 World Championship
S1mple has been satisfied with the performance of the new 25-year-old player, but has assured that they still need time to work to return to last year’s level.
The New Role of electroNic
After the departure of Вoobml4 due to the entity’s reputation, the role of in-game leader (IGL) was left without an owner. This exit could have triggered a domino effect for the team. Despite this, the club has confirmed that electroNic would occupy the role of new IGL in Natus Vincere.
The Possible Short Break of S1mple
HLTV interviewed the Ukrainian player before the Spring Finals in Lisbon. After discussing various aspects of the team, S1mple has confessed that he needs a short break from competitions. The Ukrainian player said that he wanted to set up his life, play, and not worry about other things. Additionally, with more than important changes in its squad, Aleksandr Kostyliev has assured that they still need time to work.
BLAST Premier: Spring Finals
Between June 15 and 19, eight teams that have successfully qualified for the tournament will compete with each other to win spaces for the World Finals. NaVi will play against OG at the opening with the new 25-year-old player from MAD Lions. The active player roster for this tournament is as follows:
- Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev
- Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskiy
- Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev
- Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutsky
- Denis “electronic” Sharipov
The Future in the CS:GO Competitive Ecosystem
Despite running over in all the events of 2022, NaVi is very irregular due to the mood of the team. They are not excessively comfortable with the new role structure after Boombl4’s departure. Hence, for Blast Premier: Spring Finals, the Ukrainian team comes with a small handicap. Despite this, we think that NaVi will do everything possible to remain in the elite of the CS:GO scene and even to return to last year’s level.
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