2017 in the history of NAVI.G2A. Epilogue

A short summary of the year 2017.

The year of 2017 is almost over and the winter holidays begin. No wonder, that eSports events are on pause and players are having their short break before the next stage of 2017/2018 gaming season. While everyone is relaxing, we, at Natus Vincere G2A, decided to make a short summary of the year 2017 and recall the key events of our club.

I today' article we'll tell about the achievements of  NAVI for Quake Champions, Paladins, FIFA, World of Tanks and League of Legends during 2017. The achievements of our Dota 2 and CS:GO roster will be described in a separate article.

Quake Champions

On 29 July 2017  NAVI opened their Division for Quake Champions and signed the contract with one of the most outstanding players of the competitive Quake —  Anton «COOLLERZ» Singov.

 Anton «COOLLERZ» Singov

Probably the contract with NAVI.G2A is one of the most important thing that happened this year.

At the very first tournament as NAVI player,  COOLLERZ proved that he’s a powerful addition to the club. He became the winner of Cuberbattle by MediaMarkt, having defeated his long-term rival  Cypher twice and gaining the prize of $2,500. Later he also won the online competition 125 FPS QC DUEL SUNDAY CUP #7.

Love at the first sight.

These events were a good practice before a serious trial - the trip to Dallas and participation in Quake World Championships with $340,000 prize pool.  Natus Vincere player managed to demonstrate the best result in the group stage and defeated two experienced players  toxjq and  noctics. Though  COOLLERZ lost in the semifinal to the future winner of the championship —  clawz, he showed some amazing performance and eventually took thir place by defeating  DaHanG.

 Anton «COOLLERZ» Singov

In general, I consider 2017 to be quite successful for me. It brought many new and positive things. Quake Champions emerged. It created new perspectives. I became a part of Natus Vincere, got to top 3 at Major-tournament and secured the world’s tier-1 player status.

However, this wasn’t the final achievement of NAVI player for Quake Champions in 2017. Soon enough he became the champion of Moscow. However, autumn international competitions weren’t as easy for COOLLERZ. The trip to Italian Esports Open 2017 wasn’t successful for Anton, as he took 5-6 places. In Italy, he encountered very powerful rivals in his group:  k1llsen and  clawz. The competition was so high, that the rivals had to play additional matches.

The last tournament for Anton was DreamHack Winter 2017: Duel, held in Swedish city Jönköping. COOLLERZ has passed group stage successfully, but was defeated in the first round of playoff. As a result he got to top 12 and earned $2,500 prize. As per moment the player focused on the preparation to the upcoming competitions. He also has Twitch streams.

 Anton «COOLLERZ» Singov

Next year, I will put every effort to earn the champion’s title at the world championship. I hope that Quake Champions will manage to achieve a worthy level of popularity, since it’s the key aspect in our business.

Paladins

The player of Quake Champions wasn’t the only freshman in  Natus Vincere: on 7 September 5 young and talented guys joined #navifam. Today they play Paladins on competitive level under the banners of the Born to Win.

Pawel«Creativs2» Majszyk

My most important achievement is by far joining  NAVI. It is big chance for me to change my life.

Yaroslav«N1ghtEnd» Klochko

When I learnt that the club is considering the signing of the new title, I immediately got interested in. There was a regular lull period in League of Legends. I didn’t want to spent this time without much to do. Not wishing to wait for the beginning of the next year, I asked the management of the club to work with the roster for Paladins.

We quickly found common grounds with the guys. Our relations strengthened after a two-week bootcamp and the trip to Paladins Premier League.

In the beginning, the guys participated in weekly Go4Paladins EU Cup #22 and Go4Paladins EU Cup #23. The team won twice securing their leader status in the league, leaving other competitors far behind.

Eventually, the competition became more serious. This autumn our five «paladins» took part in Paladins Premier League for the spot in the final stage of the competition. The rivals of the Born to Win were the squads of  mousesports,  Virtus.pro,  Ninjas in Pyjamas and  Fnatic. After 5 weeks of online battles, our team took third place in the tournament table, which gave them the right to scip the first round of the league’s LAN final.

Pawel«Creativs2» Majszyk

I think we did really good as team. We changed our roster by taking  Faenex and I think it improved our team alot. We ended up third in PPL season 1 almost beating  NIP for second place and on Lan tournament we qualified for HRX losing only to  NIP which as a team has so much more lan experience than us.

My personal performance I consider as good I improved my champion pool and I think I have much better mindset during games than I used to have. 2017 gave us chance to get experience in offline tournament, which I believe will help us at HRX 2018.

Though  Natus Vincere gained such cool advantage, they lost in their very first game at the event held in Atlanta. However, that wasn’t the end of performance. They still had their chance to fight over the slot in the world championship for Paladins — Hi-Rez Expo 2018. Our team didn’t lose their hearts. Being even more motivated to win, our players demonstrated what they’re capable of.

Yaroslav«N1ghtEnd» Klochko

We achieved our minimum task by qualifying to HiRez Expo 2018. It’s a good result obviously, taking into account that we lost only once during the tournament. Most players got their experience in performing at LAN. This will give them more confidence at the upcoming competitions.

The key feature of  NAVI club — the strong will to win — enabled our team to get to the world championship via Wildcard, after they defeated Team EnVyUs and Purity. The guys left no chance to their opponents. In January 2018, the Born to Win will enter the global battlefield. We expect to see their bright performance next month!

Pawel«Creativs2» Majszyk

Goal for next year is doing good in HRX and trying to become best team in EU. Gap between top 4 teams is really close and I think we have chance to become the best.

Yaroslav«N1ghtEnd» Klochko

On 26 December we will gather for another bootcamp. On 1 January we’ll go to Atlanta to participate in the World Championship. That’s why we don’t focus on the end of 2017. We consider the tournament in early 2018 to be a great opportunity to begin the year wiht a success.

League of Legends

In late august 2017 the Born to Win bid farewell to their League of Legends line-up.

Yaroslav«N1ghtEnd» Klochko

When you sum-up the year, you want to talk more about the success rather than the failure. Last year, we twice fought over the spot in the final of the Continental League. In 2017, we were twice close to leaving the League. Though we retained our place in LCL, I am pretty sure that it’s not the result, which was expected by the fans of the club.

Inside the team, I try to promote the idea that victory is the result of our joint work, so is for the loss. I don’t see any point in blaming any particular person in our results. Each of us contributed into it. Who knows: maybe if some of us had made a different choice in a certain situation, we would’ve achieved a different result. However, the most important is the lessons we’ve learnt from our losses. I am pretty sure that this experience will be for the best of each member of our line-up. They say: «Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.» 

Sadly, the roster didn’t manage to achieve the expected results.  NAVI finished both spring and summer splits of Continental League fighting in the Promotion tournament for their right to stay in the League. Both times they succeeded, but it can be hardly called a real achievement.

World of Tanks

Alas, this chapter of NAVI history was finished in 2017: our club closed its World of Tanks division. This line-up had been representing our team at various events since 2013. That’s why bidding farewell to the team was so hard. Despite the guys achieved many victories and were the leaders of the region and the world, the development of WoT eSports wasn’t successful. To sum up 2017, our team won second place at WGL 2016-2017 after the loss to TORNADO ENERGY Team in the grand final. The last tournament for our organization in this discipline was The Grand Finals 2017: Natus Vincere took 5-8 places.

FIFA

 Yevhen «Yozhyk» Mostovyk is an example of consistency and stability in  Natus Vincere. On 28 August 2017 he celebrated 10 years of his eSports career. We’re very proud that most of this period Yevhen spent at  NAVI.

Yevhen «Yozhyk» Mostovyk

I am pleased with everyone and everything. I had a couple of good performances at the international level, though I lacked some big victories. I’ll try my best to achieve them in 2018. I keep developing media: the quantity of views and subscribers to my YouTube channel and Twitch has been increasing. It’s because of Weekend League at which I’ve been consistently performing well. Some people are attracted by my plays and others — by the cool packs I receive in the end of each week.

He has achieved much over these years, but today we’re going to mention only the most remarkable achievements of 2017. In April 2017, Yevhen participated in Spring Cup Dynamo Kyiv, the first tournament organised by the legendary Ukrainian football club.  Yozhyk won third place at the event.

In mid July, Yevhen went to Guangzhou, China, to take part in EA Cup Summer 2017. This tournament was no ordinary competition. First, it was held for FIFA Online 3 (this version is more popular in Eastern Asia). Second, the players were divided in trio-teams.

Yevhen «Yozhyk» Mostovyk

The tournament in China was the most remarkable. It was in July, I fought with  BorasLegend and  Julianoo against the best FIFA Online 3 players of Asia. 3. It was a cool tournament. I can’t boast the most important achievement.

The teammates of the Born to Win were decorated players  Julianoo and  BorasLegend. Just as Yevhen had expected, the battle was very hard. As a result, his team got to top 8.

In late summer, the cyber football player took part in Summer cup of Dynamo Kyiv, held at Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, the home arena of Dynamo Kyiv football club. Unfortunately,  Yozhyk dropped to the lower brackets after his first match. After a number of victories he was defeated by the winner of the spring tournament of the series  ForlanFS and left the event.

In 2017,  Yozhyk  had 4 winstreaks of 40 matches in Weekend League. His May victory was dedicated to his newborn son. His two winstreaks in November (qualifier month) secured him a spot at the first Major for FIFA 18. 

Sixty four players,who had achieved notable results in weekly competitions, will take part in Ultimate Team Championship. Soon enough we’ll see Yevhen in epic battles!

Yevhen «Yozhyk» Mostovyk

This year begins with a cool tournament by EA — FUT Champions Cup #1 Barcelona. I want to perform at it well. Then I’ll try to qualify for the second tournament of the series and fight there. I’ll be practicing and preparing. We’ll see how it goes.

Yaroslav«N1ghtEnd» Klochko

During the past 2 years, I’ve been so positive in my comments to the website about the line-ups I worked with. I also talked a lot about the potential victories. However, I do it not because I want to mislead our fans, but because I truly believe in these teams. I crave to earn as many trophies as possible for the club. I don’t give up and I don’t lose my faith in the players with whom I am honoured to work.

Summing up, in 2017 we’ve seen some important changes in  Natus Vincere, and we hope they’re for the best of the club. We’re sure that we’ll see many exciting matches and outstanding victories of our lineups in the upcoming year! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, dear fans! We’re always here working for you! #gonavi