Year recap: NAVI.GG.BET PUBG
2018 for NAVI.PUBG
2018 was a very intense year for our club, and it is coming to an end. The Born to Win explored new horizons, going beyond the already familiar battle arenas - we set our foot on the wide Erangel and deserted Miramar. 
NAVI.GG.BET acquired a PUBG squad - four players ready to prove to the whole world that they were born to win.
In April 2018 
Sviatoslav "Drainys" Komissarov, Ivan "ubah" Kapustin, Vadim "POKAMOLODOY" Ulshin and Dmitriy "Shade1" Roschin put on the yellow-black uniform. Under the leadership of Vadim, Ivan and Dima had previously performed under the GRUBIE tag and had time to show themselves on the competitive scene of the popular battle royale game. Sviatoslav, however, climbed the ladder separately from his future teammates. The guys united their efforts at NAVI. The answer to the question why the club began to cooperate with this quartet was obvious to fans and experts alike.
Boris "Starsky" Staroselsky“The game style that they have chosen for themselves impressed me. Absolute aggression. With a cool head. Efficiency went off the scale. There was something special, as if these guys had a goal, and one could see they are striving to reach it. This instills respect. And faith".
It didn't take long for the new team to show itself. Defending the banners of the Born to Win at the first tournament, the players showed the hopes of the fans would not be in vain. NAVI beat 
FaZe Clan, 
Ghost Gaming and all other competitors in the race for the first place at Global Loot League Season 1. The guys returned from Romania with a champion cup and a check for $ 15,000.
Valeria "Lera_X" Khegai“Spring and most of the summer is the period when the team played at the peak of form. The team GRUBIE, which we signed, was going for the tier-1 level for several months. It was possible to lead the world championships and the CIS qualifiers largely due to the work done, the coherence and talent of the players".
The LAN finals were followed by qualifiers and online leagues, but the team’s attention was focused on larger competitions. The main goal of the “yellow-blacks” was the PUBG Global Invitational 2018, but it was too early to talk about the victory — the team had to go through an open qualification and compete for its slot within the regional LAN final to begin with.
Preparation for the tournament was in full swing, and it was more difficult for NAVI than for their rivals. On the eve of the most awaited and challenging $ 2,000,000 event, the Born to Win lost a squad member: due to age restrictions, Shade1 was unable to play, and we had to call Evgeniy "iLame_ru" Pekhtelev.
Evgeniy “iLame_ru” Pechtelev“I will do what the captain tells. I don't have those "desires", no wishes, as it's impossible. I am a combat unit, and POKAMOLODOY must realize that if he sends me somewhere with the task of doing something, I will do it the way he tells me to. ”
After a successful first stage, NAVI went to Minsk to fight for 2 slots for PGI 2018. Despite the forced replacement in the roster, our squad remained the favorite for regional qualifications and justified its status. Natus Vincere quartet won the first place and went to Berlin in July 2018.
As the analysts predicted, the Born to Win should have been one of the best teams, even taking into account the fact that representatives of the West and the East fought on the same battle arena. Note that in the Asian region, the third-person game mode is popular, while players from Europe, America and the CIS traditionally practice FPP.
Vadim "POKAMOLODOY" Ulshin— We were 100 % confident in FPP, because it's our main mode. TPP games turned out to be difficult, though we expected it to be otherwise. We will dedicate even more time to practicing. For TPP, you need to train the positioning separately; as we didn't train in the third person mode, we lost quite a bit in this aspect. We never played TPP as a squad".
The tournament began in the mode that is more familiar to the eastern scene. At this stage, NAVI were only tenth after 8 maps. The results of FPP matches were much better, but the team still did not rise above the fourth line. The team's total prize money amounted to $ 70,000, but the guys did not hide the fact that they hoped to achieve more.
Vadim "POKAMOLODOY" Ulshin“It’s hard to judge whether the fact that we started the performance with the less familiar TPP tournament affected the result: the run wasn't too long”.
Upon arrival from Germany, the team returned to playing regular tournaments: Global Loot League Season 2 and StarSeries & i-League Season 2. Spectators and specialists could not help but notice the decline: the champion roster of Natus Vincere seemed to have lost confidence in their own abilities and stopped relying on their ability to act aggressively together.
Valeria "Lera_X" Khegai“There are objective and subjective reasons for the decline. In my opinion, isolation from the strongest players in Europe, when the CIS was allocated to a special region, played a cruel joke with us: other CIS teams pulled themselves up, playing with us, and we didn't progress much, competing with less strong rivals. At that time there were no world championships, so the fact we didn't play as well wasn't visible. Western teams, for example, also didn’t notice how much Asian teams went up until they won PGI Berlin.
There were certain problems with communication and motivation of players. PUBG pro scene has radically changed this year: to stay at the top, you need to make tremendous efforts both individually and as a team. ”
The guys worked hard to overcome the crisis together and get back in shape, but it soon became clear: the team needs change, fresh blood. For PGL PUBG Fall Invitational NAVI went with a test team, sending 2 replacements: Aleksandr "BatulinS" Batulin and Artyom "Sadovnik" Danilyuk.
Aleksandr "BatulinS" Batulin“I am very pleased to realize that I play with people who are as professional as possible and motivated enough to give all the best in all tournament matches. Every player wants to achieve the best result, and it really helps when playing together. "
The debut championship wasn't the triumph for the team, but progress is evident, and the players realized that they were moving in the right direction. After the event in Bucharest, the final reshuffles commenced: the place of Shade1 was taken by Dmitriy "Recrent" Osintsev, so the only one to remain from the original NAVI roster was only the captain, POKAMOLODOY.
Artyom "Sadovnik" Danilyuk“I watched the last plays of the team. Probably the unsuccessful actions of NAVI were associated with problems within the team. No idea what went wrong exactly. I think, the fresh ideas and thoughts will revitalize the team."
Artyom wasn't wrong about the situation within the team. The updated quartet focused on training and showed the results of its work during an online event OGN Super League Europe PUBG Invitational Championship. NAVI became the best team on Sanhok, for which they received € 15,000, and placed quite high on Erangel and Miramar. Sadovnik, Recrent and POKAMOLODOY were some of the best players, according to ratings.
Valeria "Lera_X" Khegai“I think we have overcome the crisis in a timely manner with the best result possible. After less than 2 weeks, the new roster won OSL EU PUBG Invitational on Sanhok, and had all the chances to win other maps. Guys did well, aplenty of practice and effort bore the fruit. But there is still a lot of work ahead, you need to approach the PRO-league in the best possible way.
This year was rather unstable for our team, but overall we showed excellent results. For most of the season, we were ahead of the entire CIS and were seriously competing with the strongest teams in other regions in the fight for the world's best team title. ”
It is worth noting that throughout the year our team actively stormed online tournaments, such as Auzom Relegations, OGA Pit Invitational Season 3, Unique League and Se7en Esports Cup. In addition, the yellow-black duets were conquering the national DUO tournaments: Auzom Nations Cup, GLL Wingman IV, GLL Wingman V, and "Mortal Engines".
Vadim "POKAMOLODOY" Ulshin“The main goal was to assemble a competitive team in the CIS and the world. As it happened, we stayed in the top 3 for some time; after a series of setbacks, the roster couldn't have been salvaged for a number of reasons.
In the last tournaments of 2018, we showed that we can fight the strongest teams. There is a lot of work ahead, for the team and players alike. In the future, the goal will not change: the new roster, development, victory. We aim to have a good performance at at PEL, to take part in the final tournament of the year. ”
Of course, the youngest division of the Born to Win gifted the fans a busy season, but the coming year promises to be much more interesting and difficult. NAVI received an invite to the first stage of the debut season of the PUBG Europe League with a prize fund of $ 1,000,000.
Valeria "Lera_X" Khegai“We are in constant dialogue with the representatives of PUBG Corp. and Starladder, and our work is aimed at the success of the upcoming league, as we hope it will create the best competitive conditions for the teams and be entertaining for the audience. Of course, our team is waiting for the most important parts - a successful performance and new victories. ”
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