Will electroNic be kicked from NAVI or become IGL? 

Not long ago, Natus Vincere CS:GO roster could be considered one of the most stable on the worldwide esports scene. However, the Russian invasion of Ukraine caused possibly a non-recoverable fracture in the CIS CS:GO community, as many teams that represent Eastern Europe consist of Russian, Belorussian and Ukrainian players. 

Since February 24, the CIS esports scene has been going through plenty of challenges, as organizations proceed with changes to their rosters as a result of current political issues. Furthermore, some players and content creators express hate towards each other because of their different opinions, or even as a response to the propaganda about Russia and Ukraine. 

NAVI line-up falls victim to the war

Natus Vincere also became a victim of the current circumstances as the team had a mixed roster of Russian and Ukrainian players. Since the club itself is of Ukrainian origin, its first steps following the war included cutting ends with Russian partners and sponsors.

The second instance of the club’s reaction to the situation was the kick of Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov, the team’s former captain, after a successful performance and the runner-up finish at the PGL Major Antwerp 2022. The kick was related to “high reputational risks for the club”, rather than to Boombl4’s in-game performance. 

However, it wasn’t Boombl4 who caused this misfortune to his career, but his wife — Angelica “LiQueen”. While she had previously been a part of various scandals, she has now caused trouble to Boombl4 with her posts on Instagram, especially those showing her support for Russia. 

While her statements did not directly refer to Boombl4 or the organization, her posts expressing support for Russia contradicted the overall stance of Natus Vincere towards the war.

At the moment, the club’s management is working on transferring all Russian players to other countries even at the cost of citizenship change, showing the radical nature of their attitude that resulted in kicking Boombl4 from the team. 

Electronic’s esports career is at crossroads

Denis “electroNic” Sharipov is the second Russian player on NAVI’s roster. Currently, there are lots of rumors regarding his future in ‘Born to win’, one of which is a kick due to the political situation and the overall “cancel culture” towards Russians all around the world. Moreover, many people started adding fuel to the fire by sharing various, non-verified information.

For example, Electronic’s wife Daria Sharipova reportedly liked multiple Instagram posts of the Russian national singer Nikolay Baskov, who expressed his full encouragement for Putin’s actions in Ukraine. Moreover, according to the Gameinside.ua, she allegedly donated money to support the Donetsk People’s Republic, the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. 

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A post shared by Denis Sharipov (@electronicsgo)

 

While these gossips are rather unimportant, fans dug up a video from 2018 where electroNic and NAVI ex-player Egor ‘flamie’ Vasilyev watch the FIFA World Cup match between Russia and Croatia, in which the Croats defeated their opponent. After the match, Croatian player Domagoj Vida, who played for Dynamo Kyiv for a long time, shouted: “Glory to Ukraine.” The video catches electroNic and flamie expressing their opinions on Vida’s remark: 

“The man over there shouted Glory to Ukraine, now he’s going to get f*cked.” — flamie.

“You know what I would do if I were in Russia’s place? I’d f*cking ban him from entering the country.” — electroNic.

Could electroNic become the new NAVI captain? 

In today’s realities, such an attitude can be a catalyst for a harsh decision by the team’s management. Yet, there is another side to the coin. Recently, the community started buzzing that reader than being removed from the roster, electroNic could become the team’s captain.

The main premise for such discussion was Dexerto’s interview with Alexey “xaoc” Kucherov, Chief Operating Officer at Natus Vincere. In the interview, Xaoc said that they’re considering moving Electronic to the IGL position and signing Timur “buster” Tulepov, who was recently benched by Virtus.pro. However, at the time of writing, it is not clear if buster will join Natus Vincere since the club doesn’t want to deal with Russian organizations. Thus, this could only happen if buster becomes a free agent. 

Moreover, the community also discussed whether Natus Vincere signs Mareks “YEKINDAR” Gaļinskis, the Latvian Virtus.pro player who was benched together with buster. However, xaoc disproved this info in his Twitter account. 

Coming back to electroNic, another hint that he might become the captain was dropped by his teammate Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi. While answering questions during a recent live stream, b1t confirmed that electroNic will be the next captain of Natus Vincere.

That said, it seems that the organization is still calculating risks and doesn’t rush into the decision. On June 3, NAVI introduced its roster ahead of BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022, without making an official statement regarding the IGL position.

The team welcomed Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev as a stand-in on a free loan from MAD Lions. While his future in the team hinges on his performance, maybe he became a solution to the situation, so the team won’t need to sign Russian players. 

We can assume that electroNic’s fate in Natus Vincere will be more clear after the BLAST Premier Spring Finals 2022set to run between June 15-19. Do you think electroNic will be kicked from NAVI or promoted to IGL? Share your opinion on Fragster Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Header credit: PGL