Cover-Credits:
Navi, the first TI Champions, was one of the best teams in the early days of Dota 2 and introduced some of the finest Dota 2 players to the esports scene of the game.
It gave players like Danil “Dendi” Ishultin and Clement "Puppey" Ivanov to the Dota 2 community, playing a crucial role in the growth of the competitive side of the game.
In the following years of its initial glory, the once radiant team brimming with potential eventually fell off from the Dota 2 esports scene after a series of failures during the mid-2010s.
Now it seems as if the organization might be slowly paving a path to once again achieve its lost glory.
Navi Making a Comeback to Dota 2’s Upper Echelon?
After the initial success, Navi faced consecutive unfavorable results in tournaments, which slowly started to take a toll on the team's overall performance, and over the years organization's popularity started dipping.
At the same time, new teams and organizations like Nigma Galaxy, Team Spirit, OG, and many others emerged to win the favor of the community on brilliant performances, signing exciting talents, and offering something new for community members to look up to.
However, in the recent DreamLeague Season 23 Eastern European Qualifiers, Navi shocked the Dota 2 community with its stellar performance and even beat Two time TI champions Team Spirit with a clean sweep in a best-of-three series, eventually making its way through to the main tournament.
On 22nd March 2024, DreamLeague Season 23 Easter Europe Qualifiers concluded, officially cementing a spot for Navi in the main tournament of a DreamLeague for the first time in the last four years.
During its journey to the grand finals of the qualifiers, Navi beat Asakura in the first stage and then beat the favored Team Spirit in a best of three series.
After this game, Navi took on Virtus.pro and lost, dropping down to the lower bracket from where it recovered following a win against 1win to reach the grand finals.
Here they faced Virtus.pro once again and were ready to take their revenge, fighting tooth and nail to secure a close 3-2 series win which tested them to their absolute limits as they now make their way to DreamLeague Season 23, scheduled to take place from 20th to 26th May 2024.
Navi has undergone a series of major roster overhauls in recent years and its latest lineup has been bringing in results for the team.
Navi’s performance since the start of the 2024 competitive Dota 2 season has been commendable as it placed fourth in the DreamLeague Season 22 qualifiers and 5th-6th in the ESL One Birmingham 2024 qualifiers.
Although this might not sound impressive, the performance Navi has displayed this year is a stark difference from its previous year’s performance where it suffered to secure a top five finish in most qualifiers and tier-two tournaments.
The current roster has shown a lot of promise and may give Navi fans the taste of victory it has been longing for years now. During its last attempt at DreamLeague Season 13 in 2020, Navi finished with a disappointing 9th-12th finish.
Maybe this time with its refined roster Navi might produce some favorable results for the team.
The current Dota 2 lineup of Navi is as follows,
Artem "Yuragi" Golubiev - Pos 1
Sukhbat "sanctity-" Otgondavaa - Pos 2
Dmitry "nefrit" Tarasich - Pos 3
Baqyt "Zayac" Emiljanov - Pos 4
Arman "Malady" Orazbayev - Pos 5
The DreamLeague Season 23 is slated to kick off on 20th May 2024 onwards. All eyes will be on Navi as it attempts to reclaim its former glory by performing well in its first tier-one Dota 2 tournament in years.
Only time will tell how Navi goes on to perform ahead this year as only the first quarter has concluded with nine months and several more Dota 2 tournament left to be played out.
