There are many questions about the new NAVI roster, but ArtStyle can save everyone

“I won’t play with GeneRaL or V-Tune anymore”

Bright, burning and very provocative quote, isn’t it? Who could speak so harshly and unequivocally about Ukrainian cybersportsmen? Maybe this ALWAYSWANNAFLY still can’t get away from the kick from NAVI? Or that Icebergoffended by former teammates? Although, most likely, it is RodjER, whose undercover games left him without a team … However, none of the options will turn out to be correct. Actually with GeneRaL and V-Tune Ilya ALOHADANCE Korobkin will never play again. Oh wait …

Who among you has never in the heat of the moment rushed loud phrases, which in the end were at odds with the case, throw a stone at me. Well, Korobkin said such things, was on emotions, maybe it was a bad day, with whom it does not happen. We will not scold the Ukrainian e-sportsman for the mistakes of the past, we are not at all vindictive, right? Moreover, I am sure that time has washed away all the grievances between ALOHADANCE, GeneRaL and V-Tune a long time ago, because two whole weeks have passed! Korobkin made this statement on August 17, 2023. As many as 16 days passed between Korobkin’s loud phrase and the announcement of the new NAVI roster. A solid distance to change your mind.

But these are not all hot quotes from the players of the new Natus Vincere roster lately. On August 31, Victor GeneRaL Nigrini spoke about the Ukrainian club. Attention, this is what the offlaner said: “You *** are with your NAVIs. I have *** for this tima. ” Confident and uncompromising! Well, you can understand the esportsman – do they still remember how Natus Vincere dealt with Nigrini this spring? And GeneRaL, judging by his words, has not forgotten this at all. But with the fall of the first yellow leaves from the trees and the arrival of the first cold winds, the Ukrainian, apparently, became sad and lonely without a command, he decided to forgive all insults, and voila – NAVI.GeneRaL. As you know, there is only one step from love to hate. Two days long. Learn ALOHADANCE!

Jokes aside. These inconsistencies have two more or less adequate scenarios. First, the statements of cybersportsmen are a planned action by the organization’s management. As you know, there is no bad publicity, and such provocative speeches certainly attracted a decent amount of attention. But in this situation, the obvious question arises – why? After all, the players could have mentioned the Ukrainian tag in a different context, but they certainly shouldn’t stoop to barbs about future teammates and the Natus Vincere club itself. This scenario does not sound very logical, frankly.

Scenario two: The players spoke sincerely. An even more incomprehensible, but therefore no less probable alignment. Especially considering what tricks the NAVI breeding department threw out in 2023. If the players really spoke from the heart, and did not read from the sheet, as in the already legendary video explaining the reasons for the GeneRaL kick, then the same question arises here again – why? Why would a club unite players who tell fans in public that they don’t want to play with each other? Why take under your wing people who openly say nasty things about NAVI? As in the first scenario, everything sounds as illogical as possible.

There is also a third scenario: the guys were just trolling. Fans, whose eyes are bloodshot all through 2023, despite the club’s incredible transfer decisions, deserve to be treated appropriately. At least for the fact that after all the outright nonsense that was happening with the NAVI Dota 2 roster, they stayed with the team and continue to support it. Say what you like, but such stuffing, if it is really stuffing, looks like a mockery. To be honest, this scenario seems to me the worst, but my heart tells me that this is how it was. Hope it’s just wrong.

The king is back

Despite the fact that almost all changes in the Natus Vincere roster in 2023 were perceived ambiguously by the fans, this time one of the decisions of the NAVI management was accepted as warmly as possible by almost the entire audience. The legendary returned to the club as a coach Ivan ArtStyle Antonov… In addition to acting as a mentor, The International 2011 champion will be developing the Dota 2 direction in the organization. NAVI needed such a person, because, judging by the public statements of the management, in recent months the players were almost left to their own devices. There is no doubt about Antonov’s skills: the Ukrainian has proven his worth both as a player and as a coach. A huge plus will be the fact that ArtStyle is well acquainted with Natus Vincere: it was in her T-shirt that he raised the first Aegis in history, and then attempted to get the coveted trophy in 2015. In the Dota 2 division of NAVI, there was definitely a lack of a person who would be respected by the players and whose opinion they listened to. I am sure that ArtStyle will be just such a mentor, especially considering that he is closely acquainted with the new captain of the Solo team from several years of joint and, importantly, very successful work in Virtus.pro.

Of course, this story was not without sad moments. In connection with the transfer to Natus Vincere, Antonov was forced to stop working with the roster PuckChamp, which annoyed the fans of the young team. This is definitely a big loss for the roster. Dukalis, but at the same time it is worth realizing that the experts of the level of ArtStyle in the CIS can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Therefore, the decision to go up and work with a roster with world-class potential (commentators at Cybersport.ru, sorry) looks absolutely reasonable. Departing from the lyrics, we can say that somewhere, but here the NAVI management did not fail. HarisPilton, low bow!

Will they play for sure this time?

I think everyone remembers the story of the shepherd boy. Drawing an analogy with Natus Vincere, few people from zero second will believe in the club’s stories about the prospects of the new roster. There are several reasons, but the main one is doubts that the team will be able to keep this roster in the long run. I believe that even within the organization there is no one hundred percent certainty that tomorrow the conditional ALOHADANCE will not quarrel with the conditional No.[o]ne and the roster will not resort to further changes. A similar point of view was voiced by almost all representatives of the professional Dota 2 scene, who managed to express themselves. But I propose to discard everything that was before today (yes, it is almost impossible, but what can you do), and try to look at this roster with an open mind.

Let me argue with the manager Team Spirit Dmitry Korb3n Belov, who said that “those who say:” The composition looks good on paper “do not understand anything about paper.” If we still talk about paper, then on it, in my opinion, the composition looks not only good, but even gorgeous. Four skillful and, moreover, still young enough for esports performer under the guidance of an experienced captain, and ArtStyle himself is at the head of everything.

Nevertheless, the new roster of Natus Vincere really raises some concerns. Perhaps the most questions in this situation to the figure Solo… It’s no secret that Berezin spent the last season extremely badly: his NoTechies looked like the weakest team out of all twenty teams in the Dota Pro Circuit 2023 league in the CIS and naturally dropped out of the competition following the results of two seasons. Will Solo be able to return to the level of his performance during the Virtus.pro Is a big riddle, and the answer to it, in my humble opinion, will determine the fate of this team. After all, given the huge number of contradictions, especially if we are talking about the selection of players who either want to play with each other or don’t want to, the need to establish communication and maintain motivation in the participants will fall on the shoulders of the captain.

The second stumbling block is ALOHADANCE. For reference: Korobkin has already completed his professional playing career twice. At the same time, I remind you that in mid-September he will turn 24 years old. At such a young age, the cyber sportsman has already left the stage twice, both times arguing this with a loss of motivation. Where does Natus Vincere get the guarantee that ALOHADANCE will not get bored with Dota 2 again in a couple of months? It’s an open question. Whether Korobkin is ready to fully concentrate his energies on playing in a professional team is also a mystery. At the best of times, a support is capable of playing at an incredibly high level, but his epic of career endings and renewals can continue at any time. Why does NAVI take such risks? I have no answer.

But back to the gaming skills of esports players. If we discard all the tinsel, it turns out that now Natus Vincere has five world-class players. Yes, some of them have not shown performances of this level for a long time, but each of them has repeatedly proved to the fans what they are capable of. The main task of the new NAVI roster will not even be developing strategies or increasing the personal skill of each player (which, of course, is also very, very important). The main task of the new NAVI roster will be to build a long-term working system, where there will be no place for the horrors that have been happening to the team over the past six months. And if Natus Vincere players cope with this task, can find a common language and go to one goal together, then this roster can really not only shoot, but also become an important player on the tier-1 scene of Dota 2. If not, then I think , it will not be a surprise to anyone, because all NAVI fans have long been taught by bitter experience.