Natus Vincere has benched Evgeniy “Chuvash” Makarov a few days after the team’s third-place finish in ESL One Mumbai.
Bakyt “Zayac” Emilzhanov, who recently played for teams such as The Pango and Vega Squadron, will replace Chuvash for upcoming tournaments with Na`Vi. The duration of the inactive status of Chuvash is unannounced.
Chuvash’ status might be similar to Danil “Dendi” Ishutin’s inactive status, allowing the player to permanently take a position with other teams through a loan agreement. This setup was an effect of the player’s specified contract terms.
“It happens sometimes that a team reaches a certain limit and in order to progress further, it is necessary to make some changes,” Na`Vi general manager Igor “caff” Sydorenko said. “Chuvash is a good player and a teammate, I wish him good luck and I am sure he will be able to fully open up as a player in a new team.”
Na`Vi made an impressive run at ESL One Mumbai as it sent eventual champion Keen Gaming to the lower bracket. The team soon found a rematch in the lower bracket finals. Keen Gaming won the series in a clean 2-0 fashion and moved on to dominate the grand finals.
Na`Vi was rewarded $35,000 for finishing in third place.
However, Na`Vi hasn’t shown great results in the current Dota Pro Circuit. The team was able to eke points out in just one minor and one major tournament, respectively. Those points were not enough to secure a slot in the latest top 12 standings which provide direct invites to The International 2019.
The team did not make the cut in the MDL Disneyland Paris Major as Virtus.pro and Team Empire snatched the two slots through the CIS regional qualifier.
With only two tournaments remaining before The International, Na`Vi’s hopes of bouncing back have translated to its decision to make a roster change.
Na`Vi captain Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev will also rejoin the team. SoNNeikO missed the ESL One Mumbai tournament due to health issues and was temporarily replaced by Mihail “Misha” Agatov.
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