The legendary NAVI is finally entering VALORANT esports with truly a title contending team.
Earlier in late June, we saw T1 reveal their revamped and new VALORANT roster. Today, we see a new name in the European VALORANT esports scene, Natus Vincere. The legendary Counter-Strike: Global Offensive organization is joining in on the fun in Riot Games' tactical shooter.
NAVI revealed their acquisition of No Pressure, a free agent VALORANT team who has been dominating the CIS region in recent tournaments. The team were able to claim 2nd place in the VCT Stage 3: EMEA - CIS Challengers 1, after falling to Gambit Esports in the final. A classical matchup of two teams we are mostly used to mentioning in the CS:GO scene is now in VALORANT as well.
In mid-June, their first member was announced, former CrowCrowd member, namely Kirill "Cloud" Nehozhin. He will be joined by Artur “7ssk7” Kiurshyn, Vladyslav “arch” Svistov, Denis “dinkzj” Tkachev, and Mikhail “Duno” Fokin. For a quick background check on each, 7ssk7 was a former Fortnite professional player for Virtus.pro, with over $160,000 of tournament winnings to his name. Back in 2019, he managed to place 33rd in the Fortnite World Cup Duos Finals.
Arch is another former CS:GO pro player transitioning into VALORANT after being part of Team Spirit, k1ck eSports Club, EXTREMUM, and other teams' rosters. Both Duno and Cloud competed professionally in Warface regionally and internationally.
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Duno and Cloud played together previously on CrowCrowd.AG and PogChamp, which will contribute to NAVI's VALORANT team cohesion. They were crowned the Warface Open Cup champions twice, while reaching the top 3 in various LAN events.
Last but not least, dinkzj is an up and coming VALORANT player dominating the CIS region lately. Epulze Valorant Prodigies, Wave Esports Invitational Cup Season 1, and was part of the No Pressure team who placed 2nd in the CIS Challengers 1 as we mentioned earlier.
NAVI VALORANT roster includes:
Kirill “Cloud” Nekhozhin
Vladyslav “Arch” Svistov Denis “dinkzj” Tkachev
Artur “7ssk7” Kiurshyn Mikhail “Duno” Fokin
Vlad “TheVs” Moroz (manager)
Whether they will be able to take down FNATIC from their EU throne is yet to be seen, but the potential to perform is all there. Stay tuned to Esports.gg for the latest Valorant news.
