NAVI opens Dota 2 Junior roster

NAVI esports club has completed the formation of NAVI Junior Dota 2. The roster features young and talented players within the age of 15-17. All of them are among the top 300 players in the world ranking.

The selection process took about three months. Ivan "Artstyle" Antonov, the coach of the team, was responsible for searching the candidates. The curator of the project was the club's head of esports Amiran "ami" Rekhviashvili, who had previously participated in the creation of NAVI Esports Camp and NAVI Junior CS:GO.

Gradually, we will be introducing you to the new NAVI Junior players and their first success on our YouTube channel. Make sure to check it out and subscribe!

Amiran "ami" Rekhviashvili NAVI's Head of Esports:

"NAVI Junior Dota 2 is our new project aimed to develop the youth scene in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. Looking back at the success of our CS:GO academy, we realize that we can promote world-class players who will be loyal to the club and with whom it will be easy to work in the future.

I believe that other big clubs will follow our example to boost the Dota 2 academic scene and improve the discipline's ecosystem. That's exactly what we did in CS:GO".

Ivan "Artstyle" Antonov NAVI's Junior Dota 2 Coach:

"Young players in Dota 2 have always been on the radar, but no one wanted to commit to their development professionally. It is well known that the change of generations within the pro-scene can happen quickly.

Together with NAVI, we realized that it is important to think long-term, so we started searching for players. It has always been my dream to develop young talents and to share my knowledge with them. I'm glad that I have the opportunity to take part in making this story come true.

We were looking for candidates for nearly three months. The final roster was made up of five 15-17 year olds, each of them is at top 300 global ranking. They have no experience on the pro-level, but they're mechanically gifted. I like that the guys don't have fixed patterns. They want to play and develop their skills, always open to new ideas. Cheer for NAVI Junior!"

NAVI Junior Dota 2:

Taras «gotthejuice» Linnikov (carry, 17 years old)
Ričards «Ri4man» Kalniņš (mid, 15 years old)
Yurii «pma» Prots (offline, 16 years old)
Tamir «daze» Tokpanov (support, 16 years old)
Stanislav «Riddys» Mitroshkyn (full support, 16 years old)

Ivan «Artstyle» Antonov (coach)