Na'Vi have such an accomplished history in CS:GO, but the CIS organization has yet to win a major despite numerous close calls. Their time as one of the best under famed IGL Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko has come to an end, but their new future looks just as bright thanks to their excellent 1-2 fragging punch of s1mple and electronic.
Roster
Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov (1.03)
Youngster Boombl4 has taken the reigns of one of the most accomplished lineups from the CIS region after Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko retired from playing. While his fragging has suffered, the calls on Na'Vi have been rather good, and the team seems to be a much more cohesive unit (outside of StarLadder).
Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev (1.23)
While his stats over the past three months have been limited (only 40 maps played), s1mple has remained one of the best players in the world despite any roster moves. Look for s1mple to have a higher headshot percentage now that he is moving off the AWP thanks to the return of primary sniper GuardiaN.
Denis "electronic" Sharipov (1.17)
Making his presence known in 2018 as one of the best, 21 year old electronic is looking to prove his status as a top 5 player in the world was not a fluke by finishing 2019 off strong. He's had a great year so far and is always a reliable fantasy pick in either draft or money leagues.
Ladislav "GuardiaN" Kovacs (0.95)
GuardiaN is returning to his old team after he started to sour on FaZe Clan. The acclaimed AWPer has yet to win that elusive major, and is looking to link up with fellow CIS prodigy s1mple to finally bag that trophy. While GuardiaN has not been in top form in the second half this year, look for his numbers to at least make a positive HLTV rating due to how this roster is constructed.
Egor "flamie" Vasilev (1.07)
Flamie has been extremely up or down as a player this year, but he still plays an important role as the 3rd/4th best fragger on the team. Flamie being at least above water is the key for Na'Vi to win games, and his relatively low rating makes him a sneaky good pick for snake draft fantasy.
Recent Form
Offline:
BLAST Pro Series: Copenhagen 2019 (3rd)
StarLadder CSGO Season 8 (13th-16th)
EPL Season 10 (1st-4th)
Dreamhack Masters Malmo 2019 (3rd-4th)
BLAST Pro Series: Moscow 2019 (6th)
The team has had a bumpy second half of 2019, but a roster move means older results are less relevant. Malmo was their best performance so far, and StarLadder seems to be an aberration considering the rest of their results. Oddly, Na'Vi have not played an online match all year long, but I think their form should be good enough to get past most of the teams attending EPL Season 10.
Potential for Success
Na'Vi have always been a team relying on momentum, and that principle applies to the current iteration especially. As long as s1mple and electronic get going, nothing will be able to stop their T-sides and their CT sides will be extremely hard to go against. Na'Vi have a very good map pool, and should be able to utilize their stars effectively against the majority of the field.
Prediction: 3rd-4th
Written By:Ezekiel Carsella@jamaican116