Year recap: NAVI.GG.BET Paladins
NAVI.Paladins: the overview of the year
As 2018 is coming to its end, it’s time to sum up the results of 
NAVI.GG.BET. The first one is going to be about Paladins lineup, which has shown excellent results and a very good game, which, undoubtedly, pleased the fans.
The game year for the Paladins began with the Paladins World Championship 2018. 12 teams from all around the world fought for the title and a share of $200,000. 
Natus Vincere also made it to the event through the qualifiers, ready to challenge the opponent.
“Yellow-Black” showed a great game in Atlanta, first crushing everyone in their path in the group stage, and then in the playoffs. In the final match, we defeated one of the strongest representatives of the professional scene — Fnatic. A great victory — and the title of world champions in the hands of Natus Vincere!
However, NAVI could not continue to dominate the other teams in the spring split. The spring split, on the one hand, was successful — the team took the second place in the regular season, but on the other — not exactly, as the guys lost both matches to Fnatic, which looked a lot better
However, in addition to the spring split LAN, there was another equally important tournament — Esport Superstars: Paladins, and in early May, the guys went to Las Vegas. Despite the fact that the competition involved only 6 teams, among them were the teams: Fnatic, 
G2 Esports, Team Envy, SK Gaming and Gankstars. Alas, the "yellow-black" didn't have the best game and took only 4th place, losing in the lower bracket against Team Envy.
This result foreshadowed an unsuccessful outcome of the upcoming LAN-final of Paladins Premier League Spring Split. Suspicions were not in vain: NAVI resisted the onslaught of Fnatic, but still lost the first match with a score of 3:4 and left the tournament.
The guys managed to work on their mistakes, and our team claimed the title at the Paladins Masters Spring 2018 that followed immediately after that tournament. Having won 2 matches in the upper bracket, NAVI encountered Fnatic and dropped into the lower bracket. However, this only gave the Born to Win addition drive: having reached the grand finals, the yellow-blacks got revenge after so many defeats and earned $ 40,000!
Analyzing the completed tournaments, we realized something had to change. The captain was replaced: 
Kevin “Unbelivable” Rahu was replaced by Ninjas in Pyjamas player 
Kevin “Laizy” Jensen.
At first, fresh blood did not help fight back Fnatic in the summer split of the Paladins Premier League: the Natus Vincere team finished their performance on the second line. In addition, in the LAN-part of the tournament, the guys didn't manage to beat Fnatic, losing with the score 1:4.
Gradually, however, Natus Vincere was getting better, and the subsequent Paladins Summer Finals 2018 tournament was already successful for the guys. "Yellow-black" rushed through the upper bracket of the championship, and in the final match beat Team Envy.
The autumn split of the Paladins Premier League was a triumph for Natus Vincere. Yellow-black won the regular league, taking all 8 matches, losing only 3 maps. Fantastic result, which allowed the team to get a slot for the World Cup.
At the most important tournament of the year, it seemed that our guys had no rivals. First, the “yellow-blacks” dealt with Virtus.pro and Fnatic without any problems, and then faced the winner of the North American Paladins Premier League winner — Team Envy.
The encounter turned out to be extremely tense, and at first, Natus Vincere were leading in a confrontation before the score was 2:1. But the opponent didn't break under the pressure of our guys, managing to turn the course of the battle — 2 : 4. Alas, our guys could not become two-time winners of the World Cup under NAVI tag, stopping one step from this title.00
— In 2018, the team did not play a lot of tournaments. How do you evaluate the performance of NAVI players this year?
Yaroslav "N1ghtEnd" KlochkoWe have not missed a single LAN event this year. If my memory serves me right, there were 7 in total. On top of that, we have become world champions. It is a pity that we could not defend this title a month ago. Nevertheless, I think that being a runner-up of such a championship is also good. Therefore, yes, 2018 was definitely a success for our team.
— Can you say that all the goals were achieved, or are you not completely satisfied with the results?
N1ghtEnd: It is foolish to be dissatisfied with the results. Perhaps the only thing we haven't achieved is the first place on DreamHack Atlanta. After winning the Paladins Masters in the summer, we had a great season without losing a match in PPL, so the expectations from the last tournament in the competitive season were high.
— Emotions have already subsided, so it's time to ask the main question. What went wrong in the past World Cup? The team looked invincible, but still lost.
N1ghtEnd: Nothing terrible or inexplicable happened. It seems to me that even before the start of the finals, each of us had already mentally defeated the opponent, however, when the unexpected difficulties arose, someone would get confused, every little problem led to the other, and everything was snowballing towards defeat. I am not upset, this is our first lost final, albeit a big one, but this is a necessary experience for the team. You need to be able to lose too, and most importantly — to do it with dignity.
— Is the direction Paladins are taking as an esports discipline correct? What would you like to improve? What does it need to join the ranks of other successful games?
N1ghtEnd: Before Paladins, I worked with League of Legends, so I like the tournament system, which offers the regular season and the LAN-finals for it, so the competitive component suits me perfectly. We have a clear calendar, we know when we can rest, when we need to get ready for the bootcamp, etc. Here I would not change anything.
I would increase the number of teams that play in each region, even though the “skill gap” between top teams and novice leagues will be very large. I would place an even greater emphasis on the amateur and semipro scene. It is important to show people that everyone can be in the top league if he can prove himself in the lower division.
Obviously, Paladins has less players compared to better-known titles. I do not know, maybe it is worth increasing its presence/influence in some specific regions. And, of course, an important factor is the platform on which the competition is broadcast. In the case of Hi-Rez, it used to be Facebook before, now it is Mixer. The audience is reluctant to go anywhere but Twitch, but, if my memory serves me right, the number of viewers exceeded all expectations just during DreamHack Atlanta, and Mixer gave very impressive viewer count. It is necessary to continue to work with the audience and constantly invent incentive systems.
— Who would you name the main rival of Paladins in the esports scene?
N1ghtEnd: Don't know, Overwatch? Both games exist in the same genre, they are constantly compared. Perhaps there are more similar games, maybe I just don’t know about them. I always follow the social networks of the club, I see how sometimes people react negatively about the Paladins, they clearly underestimate this game, which has several advantages that are not found in OW.
— The game developer, Hi-Rez Studies, plays a significant role in the development of the scene. What can you tell about collaboration with this company?
N1ghtEnd: I have no negativity towards any Hi-Rez employee. Even though this is a US company, and we are in different time zones, communication problems never occurred. Of course, there are some difficulties, but there is nothing unsolvable, we always find a common language. There are nice people working there who are ready to help anyone with anything.
— What are your plans for the near future regarding the team and players? What will you do?
N1ghtEnd: The simplest and most mundane plans are to relax as much as possible, to reboot and to approach the 2019 competitive year with new strengths, goals and objectives. As for me personally — a bit of work, a bit of rest. There was an opportunity for a small vacation, I decided to visit Italy.
Summing up, the year can be called a successful one for Natus Vincere. The guys showed a confident and very entertaining game, while constantly giving the fans good results. $ 224,000 this is how much our guys won throughout the year. An excellent result, which is surely a decent achievement for Natus Vincere! We are confident that the year 2019 will be for our team even more successful and memorable! #NAVINATION
