Na'Vi out of TI10 qualifiers, GeneRaL jabs at former team

Steven Rondina Published 25/06/2021

Natus Vincere pulled off one of the most egregious cases of roster poaching in recent Dota 2 history, and now has nothing to show for it.

The fan-favorite CIS organization suffered a swift elimination from the qualifiers to The International 2021 despite fielding a highly credentialed roster. This will see the black and yellow brand go unrepresented at the event.

After defeating EXTREMUM in the upper bracket, Na`Vi faced HellRaisers. The first map was something straight out of a pub game with a disorganized Na`Vi struggling to deal with the chaotic gameplay brought about by Bakyt “Zayac” Emilzhanov’s aggressive Techies play. Na`Vi got on the board by steamrolling HellRaisers in game two thanks to a huge effort by Alik “V-Tune” Vorobey, but HellRaisers took a clean victory in the decider to send Na`Vi to the lower bracket.

Na`Vi was then put into a do-or-die match against Team Empire. Na`Vi looked poised to take the series in quick fashion with a strong game one, but Team Empire roared back by getting the better of a back-and-forth game two and successfully pulling off a late-game composition in game three.

There are just four teams still active in the CIS region’s TI10 qualifiers. HellRaisers and Team Spirit will face off in the upper bracket finals, while PuckChamp and Team Empire will face off in the lower bracket semifinals.

GeneRaL disses former Na’Vi teammates after losing in TI10 qualifiers

The second half of the 2021 Dota Pro Circuit season has been a catastrophically bad one for Na’Vi. Despite looking like a shoe-in to qualify for The International 2021 through the Dota Pro Circuit, the team missed the ONE Esports Singapore Major due to health concerns.

Following this, offlaner Viktor “GeneRaL” Nigrini was dropped by the team in favor of Evil Geniuses’ Roman “RAMZES666” Kushnarev. The move was heavily criticized by fans and didn’t pan out especially well in practice, with the team falling out of major contention. The organization tried to right the ship by poaching players from one of its main competitors, AS Monaco Gambit, but the strong lineup of players didn’t translate into being a successful team.

Though GeneRaL has mostly been quiet throughout the season, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to kick Na`Vi when they were down, prodding former teammates Vladimir “RodjER” Nikogosian and Alik “V-Tune” Vorobey. The move apparently frustrated RodjER to the point that he immediately blocked GeneRaL.

Ultimately, Na`Vi’s quest to sign every big free agent available has worked out poorly for everyone involved. GeneRaL and Na`Vi’s other benched players clearly aren’t happy with how things panned out, AS Monaco Gambit suffered an early elimination of its own, and it’s now possible that Na`Vi could dissolve during or immediately after The International 2021.

Steven Rondina

About Steven Rondina

Steven Rondina is a true lifelong gamer. His earliest memories are of playing video games, and he has continued playing them throughout his life with no plans to stop any time soon. Steven’s favorite franchises in gaming include Pokemon, Dark Souls, and Counter-Strike. He has previously published with Bleacher Report and other gaming outlets.

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