NAVI PUBG and PUBG Mobile: year's recap

How was the year for NAVI PUBG and NAVI PUBG Mobile?

Just a few days left until we bid our farewell to the year 2020, which has undoubtedly been a busy year for Natus Vincere. Today, we're going to take a look back at the year's results for our PUBG and PUBG Mobile teams. 

PUBG

At the end of 2019, the NAVI PUBG roster was left with two members. In the midst of the New Year holidays, on January 3, 2020, the club presented a renewed roster. Thus, Arseniy "ceh9" Ivanichev and Andrey "Bestoloch" Ionov were joined by Vitaly "TheTab" Karkeshkin, Dmitry "Kemba7" Rozhkov, as well as coach Dmitry "KycoK_Ov4arku" Kasatkin.

The renewed team participated in the finals of the GLL season 4 but did not show much of a result, taking tenth place. However, in March NAVI completely recovered from the bad start of the year: they overcame the qualification stage of the large-scale tournament PGS: Berlin and took first place. 

Later it was clear that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament schedule would begin to change rapidly. PGS: Berlin was canceled, as well as all other LAN tournaments. 

A few days after the announcement of PGS, our squad received an invitation to the PCS: Charity Showdown, where the team took third place, after that PUBG Corp. started a series of large online tournaments. After the Charity Showdown, NAVI received a spot at the PCS 1, and before the championship started, they changed their coach Dmitry "KycoK_Ov4arku" Kasatkin for Alexander "Dyrem" Sevirinov.

PCS 1 took place in June. The team didn't show the desired result (9th place), and in July the roster changed once again. The club replaced Dmitry "Kemba7" Rozhkov with Vladislav "Orange" Ostroushko, and in August the guys took part in the second tournament of the PCS series. There, NAVI easily reached the tournament finals, placed seventh, and received an invitation to the final tournament of the year by PUBG Corp. — PCS 3.

So, it was getting close to winter, and the final PCS of the season kicked off. Once again, the team easily overcame the group stage and made it to the finals. But before the last battles started, the team decided to part ways with the coach Dyrem. At the end of the battles, the squad took sixth place.

In addition, in November the LAN tournament Global Invitational.S was announced, and in December, the organizers have sent direct invites to the teams. Natus Vincere also received a slot. In 2021, together with other teams, the Born to Win will go to South Korea and from February 1st to March 28th, will fight for the prize pool of $ 3,500,000

PUBG Mobile

While the PUBG PC team fought their online tournaments, NAVI decided to take a look at the world of mobile esports. In October, a PUBG Mobile roster was formed that included the strongest CIS players: Dmitry "OldBoy" Bui, Vitaly "Matic" Shulga, Alexey "Mequ" Tolov, and Daniel "Tixzy" Suchkov. 

The baptism by fire took place a few days later at the EMEA League. Among the competitors are 31 teams. Only 16 teams made it to the final, with three tickets to the Global Championship 2020 at stake. 

It didn't take long for the success to come. At the end of the first game day NAVI topped the table and stayed in the top five for two weeks. The Born to Win made it to the finals out of first place in the groups. They left no chance for their rivals there - they won the champion's title, secured the cherished ticket to the Global Championship 2020, and OldBoy became the tournament's MVP. 

The next stop was the LAN tournament Peacekeeper Elite Championship 2mmn020 in Shanghai, China. The tournament was one of the first in the much-anticipated LAN environment since the COVID-19 pandemic, so it deserved special attention. 

 Tixzy and Mequ were unable to participate in the PEC due to age restrictions, so they were replaced by ADERR, who became the fifth Natus Vincere player, and a member of Team Unique Lightning. Before the matches, all teams went through a two-week quarantine at their hotels. 

We had to fight with the strongest teams in the world. The four representatives of the Celestial Empire were the most ferocious opponents: it was almost impossible to overtake them in the number of points. Nevertheless, NAVI was very confident in everything else and finished sixth in the championship.

However, even after PEC 2020 there was no time to rest. A few days later the PUBG MOBILE Global Championship league began, with 16 teams qualifying for the grand final. 

NAVI had a rough start, but they were able to pull themselves together: Thanks to excellent teamwork, they earned important points and finished in 14th place in the overall rankings. The ticket is in the pocket, see you next year at the LAN finals in Dubai, UAE!  

The Born to Win PUBG divisions have given fans an interesting season, but 2021 promises to be much more exciting and more challenging. As early as the first months of next year, teams will head to the LAN finals where they will battle the best of the best. Stay tuned and follow the progress of our guys! #navination