Na'Vi’s Dota 2 Roster Goes Inactive
Na'Vi’s Dota 2 roster has been placed inactive following the team's "unsatisfactory performance" in the Eastern Europe (EEU) qualifier of The International 10. The organization released a video interview with its Chief Operating Officer (COO), Aleksey "xaoc" Kucherov, in which he discussed the reasons that led to the release of the roster. In addition, xaoc discussed the recent controversies surrounding the team and its players, Viktor "GeneRaL" Nigrini and Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev as well as Na'Vi’s future plans in the Dota 2 sphere. Na'Vi has benched its entire Dota 2 roster for the first time since 2015.
Na'Vi benches its Dota 2 roster due to unsatisfactory performance
The following are Na'Vi's Dota 2 roster members who competed in TI10's EEU qualifier but are now inactive:
Alik "V-Tune" Vorobey
Vladimir "No[o]ne" Minenko
Roman "RAMZES666" Kushnarev
Vladimir "RodjER" Nikogosian
A week prior to this change, Akbar "SoNNeikO" Butaev announced on his Twitter handle that he was no longer a part of Na'Vi's Dota 2 roster.
The inactive roster also includes GeneRaL, Nikita "young G" Bochko, and Pavel "9pasha" Khvastunov. There has not been an official statement regarding these three players' departure yet, even though they were moved to the inactive position months ago.
Na'Vi's Dota 2 team was discussed extensively in April 2021 when GeneRaL was replaced by RAMZES666. Although this move surprised many since the team had been performing well, the organization cited internal conflict and issues when it released a video statement explaining its decision.
After finishing sixth in the second DPC season, the team failed to qualify for the WePlay AniMajor. As a result, Bogdan "Iceberg" Vasilenko and Andrii "ALWAYSWANNAFLY" Bondarenko left the team, making way for No[o]ne and SoNNeikO. Although it had a stellar lineup for TI10's EEU qualifier, Na'Vi fell short of its expectations. Na'Vi finished 5th-6th and failed to qualify for TI10.
Na'Vi Dota 2's future plans
Now that its entire roster is inactive, Na'Vi says it has changed its approach to Dota 2 and will hire someone to help build a team. In xaoc's words,
"As a club, we want someone who would be responsible not only for in-game aspects but for this discipline overall: getting the players together, ensuring they do not fall apart after losing one game, sharing a strategy, for future growth involving young talents. We have found someone who fits the role and I think we’ll announce him soon. He will be in charge of the Dota 2 branch at Na'Vi"xaoc
Xaoc has said Na'Vi will eventually hire a new Dota 2 team, but they are unsure if it will happen before or after TI10. TI10 is scheduled to be held from 7th-17th Oct 2021, in Bucharest, Romania.
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