Cover Image Courtesy: Intel Extreme Masters | Thumbnail Image Courtesy: Intel Extreme Masters
The Ukrainian esports organization Natus Vincere has claimed the number one ranking in the world according to the latest HLTV rank list released on 9th March. The boys in yellow have dethroned Astralis, who had been sitting on top of the rank list for the past four months.
After claiming a second spot on the global rankings last week and trailing the Danes by a difference of just 4 points, Na’Vi has gone ahead to claim the throne this week, now leading Astralis by a margin of 6 points.
Na’Vi has been in great form since the start of the year, taking a second-place finish at ICE Challenge 2020, after which they qualified for BLAST Premier: Spring 2020 Finals through a successful lower bracket run, and finally stood victorious at IEM Katowice 2020, where they lifted the trophy in front of an empty Spodek Arena.
Since the departure of Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovács from the team’s active line-up, Na’Vi has slowly built itself from the ground up, doing a fine job at it and definitely achieving much more than what Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev had predicted.
The team is really coming well together, with both Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy and Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov showing their true potential, while the trio of s1mple, electronic, and flamie lead the way for the two youngsters. It will be interesting to see how the team performs in the upcoming ESL One: Rio 2020 as they step into the tournament as heavy favorites.
