The number two ranked side in the world, Natus Vincere (NAVI) have announced they aren’t planning on reshuffling their roster with Viktor ‘sdy’ Orudzhev staying with the side until at least the end of this Major cycle. Check out our take on the latest CS:GO news here at Gamelevate.
The announcement that sdy and NAVI are going to stick it out together for the foreseeable future has brought an end to the speculation surrounding the side’s fifth spot, with the new season kicking off on August 19th at BLAST Premier Fall Groups.
NAVI broke the news via head coach Andrey ‘B1ad3’ Gorodenskiy on their official YouTube channel, with the team reaffirming their decision on their social media handles this week.
Speaking about the decision, B1ad3 confirmed:
“We’ve had some pretty good results with sdy. That’s why we decided it makes sense to keep going with him as a stand-in, giving him a chance to prove himself even more since he’s making a lot of mistakes and he’s not fully comfortable in the game.”
Frank words from the coach, but, nevertheless, a decent showing of faith from the organization.
Filling In
Sdy was brought in by NAVI during the close of last season following the removal of IGL Kirill ‘Boombl4’ Mikhaylov for what the org called: ‘high reputational risks for the club’.
With sdy as a stand-in, NAVI won their first event under their current lineup at BLAST Lisbon and finished as runners-up at IEM Cologne 2022 after a marathon grand final against FaZe Clan.
Despite the successes in the server, sdy’s performances have led some to question whether he’s really cut out for the big leagues. The Ukrainian has only mustered a 0.98 rating during his time with NAVI, but the org remains committed to its belief its current group will still be able to compete at the top table of competitive CS.
Current NAVI CS:GO Roster
- Aleksandr ‘s1mple’ Kostyliev
- Denis ‘electroNic’ Sharipov
- Ilya ‘Perfecto’ Zalutskiy
- Valeriy ‘b1t’ Vakhovskiy
- Viktor ‘sdy’ Orudzhev
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