Team Spirit Manager Mocks NAVI’s Dota 2 Division

As a result of its relegation to Division II at the beginning of the 2023 season, Natus Vincere (NAVI) had one of its most challenging seasons in the Dota Pro Circuit (DPC). In its new roster’s first season together, the team failed to produce any meaningful results, winning just one series out of seven, and finishing last in the points table. With the recent results in mind, Team Spirit’s Dota 2 manager, Dmitry “Korb3n” Belov, went on to mock NAVI’s Dota 2 division during a recent Twitch livestream. As Korb3n said, NAVI is the place to join if a player doesn’t want to put in the effort while still getting paid.

Team Spirit manager says NAVI is where players are paid for doing nothing

While his comment may appear to be sarcastic, Korb3n stated quite clearly that there is truth in every joke.

“If you want to do nothing and get paid, you should go to NAVI. People sit there at Dota and do nothing and get paid. Of course, I will be disliked for this, as usual, but there is truth in every joke.”

[transcription via cybersports.ru, translation via DeepL Translate]

NAVI began the season with two series going to three games against Darkside and Team Spirit, followed by a win over One Move, but things quickly worsened as the team dropped four series in a row by 2-0 margins.

The young roster lost to BetBoom Team, HellRaisers, Virtus.pro, and was finally outplayed in the last clash against Nemiga Gaming, a series that had relegation on the line.

While the whole team fell short of expectations as a whole, Alik “V-Tune” Vorobey, the carry for NAVI, is particularly facing a lot of criticism. Since September 2020, he has been with the team through various roster changes and Korb3n’s comment, while subjective, might have been addressed towards V-Tune.

NAVI’s poor performance in the DPC Eastern Europe (EEU) 2023 Tour 1: Division I is nothing unfamiliar in recent years. Despite replacing dozens of players, many of whom have moved on and then returned, success has eluded the team. The team’s last notable achievement came in 2020 when it finished second in ESL One Germany 2020.

It will be interesting to observe how arguably the most reputed Dota 2 organization in Eastern Europe tackles the forthcoming DPC seasons. Given the organization’s history, roster changes are likely to occur again.