NAVI’s new CS:GO lineup is set to debut in showmatch against Vitality

Natus Vincere’s revamped Counter Strike roster will make its debut at the Match of LeGGends CS:GO show match, which will be played on July 8 over three maps.

The revamped Natus Vincere will face Team Vitality in a thrilling show match dubbed Match of LeGGends. Scheduled to take place on July 8, the first map of the show match will feature the revamped roster of Vitality and NAVI. The second and third maps will change things up and switch players to see who can survive the chaos, adding more excitement and surprise to the battle.

https://t.co/FQpuC6zruw is serving up a thrilling show match featuring NAVI and Vitality!🔥🔥🔥

Tune in as decorated CS:GO giants NAVI and Team Vitality lock horns in the Match of LeGGends on 8 July! 🤝

Get ready for updated rosters, ZyWoo vs s1mple, giveaways and surprises! pic.twitter.com/hdkr84FNhn

— GG.BET (@ggbet_en) June 29, 2023

Vitality has replaced veteran Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen with Israeli rifler Shahar ‘flameZ’ Shushan, one of the most sought-after players in the offseason. Meanwhile, NAVI will debut an international line-up for the first time since the company’s founding in 2009, making significant roster changes before moving to CS2.

NAVI’s revamped CS:GO roster

NAVI has registered Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen, Justinas “jL” Lekavicius, and Mihai “iM” Ivan for the BLAST Premier Autumn Groups, validating the changes mentioned by the news outlets. Andrii “npl” Kukharskyi will be replaced by the Apex rifler jL, who was a member of the Apeks team that went to the BLAST.tv Major semifinals.

The long-standing member electroNic will apparently be moving to Cloud9 alongside NAVI teammate Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy in one of the largest transactions this off-season. In his absence, the Finnish in-game leader Aleksib will take up the IGL job for the Ukrainian organization. GamerLegion’s Ivan “iM” Mihai will round out NAVI revamped Counter-Strike roster. The Rifler was GamerLegion’s key player in its spectacular run to the grand finals and the second-rated player in the Paris Major.

The overhaul comes after NAVI’s lackluster performance in 2023, most recently at the BLAST Paris Major, where the Ukrainian team was knocked out by FaZe Clan in the Legends Stage and missed out on playoffs. Before facing FaZe, NAVI had a chance to advance against the tier-two team Monte, but the Ukrainian team was no match for former NAVI member Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev. 

NAVI has placed in the top four of many major competitions in 2023, including IEM Rio, ESL Pro League S17, and IEM Katowice, but the team hasn’t won a championship since the 2022 BLAST Premier Spring Final. However, the organization’s early elimination from the final CS:GO Major appeared to be the tipping point, which resulted in NAVI’s first significant makeover since 2019.

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