NAVI Junior — Roman Imperium Cup IX Runners-up

The NAVI Junior CS2 team finished second at the Roman Imperium Cup IX LAN tournament in Portugal. In the lower-bracket final, the Born to Win defeated Sangal (2 : 1), but lost to FaZe Clan (0 : 2) in the grand final and earned € 3,000 in prize money.

Over the course of the tournament, the academy roster significantly improved their position in Valve's rankings and came close to defeating FaZe Clan in a tense upper-bracket final.

A huge climb in the VRS rankings

Before the tournament in Portugal, NAVI Junior were ranked just 94th in Valve's European rankings. However, they secured several important victories in the group stage: they defeated SAW (#35 VRS EU) in a close match on Anubis (16 : 14), followed by wins over Lazer Cats (#58) and Sangal (#33). The Born to Win also came out on top against FC Famalicão (#158).

As a result, NAVI Junior finished first in their group and were ranked 66th in the VRS EU rankings by the start of the playoffs.

Our players continued their successful run in the opening matches of the playoffs: first, they defeated the strong Ukrainian team WBT featuring DemQQ (#45 VRS), and then overcame G2 Ares (#94).

The biggest surprise — facing FaZe Clan

In the upper-bracket final, NAVI Junior faced the strongest team at the tournament — FaZe Clan (#25 VRS EU). For the academy roster, this was their first match against a tier-1 opponent.

The Born to Win unexpectedly defeated their opponents on NAVI Junior’s map pick, Anubis (13 : 9), then lost a hard-fought Nuke (10 : 13) and came within a single round of winning the deciding map, Dust II.

Unfortunately, they were unable to close out the match. FaZe Clan forced overtime on Dust II and eventually snatched victory after a lengthy series of extra rounds — 19 : 15.

After such a painful defeat, NAVI Junior had another best of 3 ahead of them, this time against familiar opponents Sangal. The Born to Win came out on top once again (2 : 1) and advanced to the tournament’s grand final.

In the deciding match, NAVI Junior faced FaZe Clan for the second time. However, they were unable to repeat their success on Anubis or put up the same fight: FaZe won 2 : 0, and the Born to Win finished the tournament with silver medals.

First major success for NAVI Junior

This tournament will certainly be remembered by both NAVI Junior players and fans. The match against FaZe Clan alone attracted over 19,000 peak viewers on the English-language broadcast!

During their run in Portugal, NAVI Junior climbed significantly in the VRS rankings, secured several important victories, defeated Sangal twice, and nearly sent FaZe Clan to the lower bracket. For an academy roster that started the tournament ranked 94th in Valve’s rankings, silver at Roman Imperium Cup IX is an excellent result.

ROUND 1BEST OF 3

FaZe Clan 2

Sangal 1

PURE 2

EA Copenhagen 0

WhiteBIT 0

NAVI Junior 2

G2 Ares 2

INFINITE 0

LOSERS’ ROUND 1BEST OF 3

Sangal2

EA Copenhagen0

WhiteBIT2

INFINITE0

ROUND 2BEST OF 3

FaZe Clan2

PURE0

NAVI Junior2

G2 Ares1

LOSERS’ ROUND 2BEST OF 3

G2 Ares1

Sangal2

PURE2

WhiteBIT0

LOSERS’ ROUND 3BEST OF 3

Sangal2

PURE1

WINNERS’ FINALBEST OF 3

FaZe Clan2

NAVI Junior1

LOSERS’ FINALBEST OF 3

NAVI Junior2

Sangal1

GRAND FINALBEST OF 3

FaZe Clan2

NAVI Junior0

WINNER

FaZe Clan

There is still plenty of work ahead and many more tournaments to come. We hope the players will continue to improve and soon be able to compete regularly against the strongest teams.

Congratulations to kodak, yoki, MahaR, FAZERY, skizzyee and coach snatchie on their first silver medal!Don’t forget to follow the players on social media to keep up with their future performances.

NAVI Junior CS2 roster:

Nazar «kodak» Buchma (Instagram, X, Twitch, Telegram)
Danil «yoki» Istomin (X, Twitch, Telegram)
David «FAZERY» Procházka (Instagram, X, Twitch)
Samuel «MahaR» Horáček (Instagram, X, Twitch)
Novica «skizzyee» Novković (Instagram, X, Twitch)

Michał «snatchie» Rudzki — coach (Instagram, X, Twitch)