SoNNeikO benched

Yevhen Zolotarov

Right after TI has concluded, the problems in interactions between the captain and some players became clear. We have discussed it and made a joint decision to keep the backbone of the team and work on those problems. It seemed that after Pasha's arrival everything has settled, and pre-qualifier bootcamp was going rather productively.

Nonetheless, the first difficulties in the official matches sparked the same personal conflicts that we were going to leave in the past, and everything came crashing down like a house of cards. As a result, we didn't qualify for the Minor, let alone the Major.

The club faced a choice: either change the majority of the roster, give the captain a carte blanche and build everything practically from scratch, or change the leader. Few people believe in Akbar as strongly as we do, yet we also see a huge potential in the players we have gathered over this time, and it would be easier to unleash it with a different, more flexible leadership approach.

Dota always had a problem with the limited number of CIS captains, and in the world in general, but this vicious circle needs to be broken. The roster has a player who has all the qualities to grow into a strong leader. Bakyt has voiced his desire to develop himself as such and received the support of the club and the teammates. 

SoNNeikO, in his turn, is becoming inactive. I would like to sincerely thank Akbar for all the years with NAVI, his professionalism, and his loyalty to the tag. I wish him good luck and still believe the success awaits him. Meanwhile, we are starting to test position 5 players, and we will approach the next qualifiers fully prepared to fight.

I would also like to notify the fans and the mass media that until the end of the qualifiers for the next Major the roster is free from any media activity to completely focus on the game.