A look at NAVI.GG.BET first-round opponents

The game is scheduled for 15:00 Kyiv time, April 13

NAVI.GG.BET will take on Southeast Asia's  Fnatic in the opening encounter of StarLadder ImbaTV Invitational Season 5. We are taking a closer look at their lineup and recent results!  

Fnatic is one of the most well-known and respected esports organizations in the world. Founded in 2004, it is based in London and has squads in such titles as Dota 2, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends and more.

Fnatic entered Dota 2 back in late 2011 but gained recognition only after they signed an international lineup composed of players from different parts of Europe. Their second venture into the competitive scene was marked by the signing of Team Malaysia – in 2015, the team relocated to Southeast Asia, where they perform to this day.

EternaLEnVy

However, the current squad features only two players from the SEA region – namely, the midlaner  Abed "Abed" Yusop and the 4th position support  Djardel Jicko B. "DJ" Mampusti. The remaining players are the carry and team captain  Jacky "EternaLEnVy" Mao, the hardlaner  Saahil "Universe" Arora and the 5th position support  Johan "pieliedie" Aström. It is important to note that pieliedie will miss the tournament, and the coach  Adam Erwann Shah "343" bin Akhtar Hussein will come in to replace him.

Fnatic's last competitive appearance was DreamLeague Season 9, which saw them put together a strong performance and finish the tournament in second place. Although Fnatic lost one-sidedly against  Team Secret in the grand final, they finished ahead of such titans as  Team Liquid and  Newbee, which surely means a lot. 

NAVI and Fnatic have met each other three times during this competitive season, with the head-to-head record tilting 2-1 in our favor. The dust has not yet settled after an epic throne race in intense Map 3 of our GESC: Indonesia encounter, and fans can't wait for another thrilling match!

343

It doesn't make much sense to look into and try to predict Fnatic's drafts, since Sand King and Gyrocopter have been dominating all professional games lately. Plus, the stand-in factor will definitely influence their traditional hero choices.

Lastly, the teams are now in almost identical situations. They both dropped out of the top 8 in the Dota 2 Pro Circuit ranking, which puts a degree of pressure on this game. Our boys will be at a slight advantage of playing against a team with a stand-in and, hopefully, will be able to win the match. We believe in Born to Win and wish them luck in the opener! #gonavi