Natus Vincere has dropped Solo following their elimination from the Last Chance Qualifiers.
Ukrainian organization Natus Vincere (NaVi) has parted ways with Alexey “Solo” Berezin, the team’s captain and five position. The news was announced across social media on NaVi’s official blog on Thursday, October 13th. The drop ends Solo’s tenure with the team after just over a year, with the Russian support player first signing with the team on September 2nd, 2021.
With Solo’s departure, the team is left without a captain, and looking for a replacement. The removal comes just days after the end of the team’s unsuccessful 2021/2022 season. This DPC season saw them miss out on a TI11 direct invite, and then fall to Last Chance Qualifiers. After being defeated by T1 and Xtreme Gaming, the squad were eliminated, crushing their chance of TI11 attendance.
“We thank Solo for his professionalism and contributions to growing the club's Dota 2 branch and wish him luck next season.”
In the official blog post, NaVi praised Solo’s contributions to the team. “We thank Solo for his professionalism and contributions to growing the club's Dota 2 branch and wish him luck next season.”
However, externally, some believe that the reason for Solo’s removal comes after the departure of Ilya "ALOHADANCE" Korobkin, who allegedly left the team on less than favorable terms. Rumors of internal conflict within the team, and Natus Vincere’s justifiable apprehension about Russian players could have made the environment challenging.
But the team ends the post on a positive note for fans. “We are going to share news about further roster changes later on, so stay tuned!” NaVi, one of the most storied and respected teams in the scene, will hopefully return to their former glory sooner rather than later.