Natus Vincere (NAVI) has announced that it has signed PuckChamp’s Dota 2 roster, in response to recent struggles that temporarily saw them relegated to Division II.
NAVI returns to Division 1 by signing the PuckChamp roster
NAVI had a disappointing start to the 2023 season, after finishing the first DPC EEU tour of the year with a 9th-place ranking. The team only won one out of the seven series that it played - emerging victorious over One Move on January 15. That somewhat dismal result saw the team being demoted to Division 2.
Following their demotion, NAVI parted ways with veteran players Alik "V-Tune" Vorobey, Nikita "Nicky`Cool" Ostakhov, and Vladislav "laise" Lais, each of whom had been with the team for almost two years. Additionally, while Arman "Malady" Orazbayev left NAVI to join PuckChamp, he rejoined his former team just a day later with the acquisition.
The final remaining player of NAVI's former team, Georgii "swedenstrong" Zainalabidov, has now been benched and has been made available for transfer. In their statement announcing the new roster, NAVI thanked swedenstrong "for his time in NAVI and wish the best of luck in the future."
While NAVI's misfortunes saw them being demoted to Division 2, PuckChamp finished in second place in the first tour of Division 2, resulting in them being promoted. This means that, by acquiring the PuckChamp roster, NAVI has found themselves once again in Division 1. That also means that NAVI now has an additional spot in Division 2, which will be used by the NAVI Junior roster.
NAVI shared the announcement via a Twitter post, joking: "What a struggle it was to get back to the first division."
NAVI's roster now consists of Maksym “shigetsu” Popadynets, Maksym "mellojul" Pnov, Abdimalik "Malik" Sailau, Danial "Danial" Alibaev and Arman "Malady" Orazbayev.
NAVI's poor performance saw them missing out on qualifying for the first DPC Major of the year, which is currently underway in Lima. You can follow along with every match of the Lima Major right here, and remember to claim your free 100% bonus before jumping in!
