Natus Vincere aka Na’Vi have been in a period of transformation for over two years now. In 2017, almost the entire squad was changed, including their coach Sergey ‘starix’ Ischuk. We are in 2019 now and still the changes have not let up.

In May of this year, Ioann ‘Edward’ Sukhariev who was one of the members of the original Na’Vi line-up was replaced by Russian esports star Kirill ‘Boombl4’ Mikhailov. Rumours are that Danylo ‘Zeus’ Teslenko - the current captain of the team - is set to retire soon and is therefore mentoring Boombl4 to take over. If so, we could be about to see a new era of dominance from Na’Vi.

Na’Vi have not played many tournaments in the past few years due to their rooster changes, but it is looking increasingly likely that this is set to change soon. The Reddit community is anticipating Na’Vi to make there big comeback in July this year shortly before the Berlin Major, StarLadder. It would certainly be great to see Na’Vi back and competing on the CSGO scene again.

New Blood for Ninjas in Pjamas

A few days ago, Ninjas in Pjamas also introduced a new player to their rooster. Nicolas ‘Plopski’ Gonzalez Zamora joined the Swedish esports team and despite his distinctly South American sounding name, Plopski is a Swede and his addition to the rooster will ensure that the team will remain entirely made up of Swedish pros. The signing of Plopski has sent Dennis ‘dennis’ Edman to the bench. Ninjas in Pyjamas are hoping the addition of the 17-year-old Plopski will generate some drive into a team which has been in much need of a revival recently, despite the recent final appearance at the BLAST Pro Series in Copenhagen.

August Major approaches

The Starladder Berlin Major is now just two months away and the anticipation is already massive. Both fans and teams alike are hyped for the event that will begin on August 23rd with the Grand Final set to take place on September 8th. The likely suspects will all be attending the Berlin Major including the current best CSGO team in the world: Team Liquid.  Astralis, Vitality and Ence will also be in attendance as will Na’Vi with many fans seeing them as dark horses going into the event. As with all CSGO majors, CSGO betting is available and it would not come as a shock to see fans backing a Na’Vi come back - Boombl4 under the tutorage of Zeus is a force to be reckoned with and they may yet take the likes of Liquid by surprise.

With that being said, Team Liquid are the clear favourites given their form over the past two years. The all North American team are as ruthless as they are skilful and will be hoping to add a second major in a row to their glittering crown. Not far behind Liquid are Astralis who had beaten Liquid in tournament finals four times in a row before Liquid managed to end that steak earlier this year in the LA major. A Liquid v Astralis final would certainly be fun to see and the odds are that one of either Team Liquid or Astralis will win come September 8th.

The weeks leading up to StarLadder Berlin will certainly be interesting. The hype on the r/GlobalOffensive page is already noticeable and will be a great place to hang out when the major begins. As usual, you will be able to watch every minute of the tournament live on Twitch.

Do you think Boombl4 will lead Na’Vi to victory? Or will it be a straight fight between Liquid and Astralis? Let us know in the comments who you want to win!


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Last Updated: Jun 24, 2019

About The Author

Lewis is a long standing journalist, who freelances to a variety of outlets.

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