Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #19 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky have announced the departure of Mehmet "cNed" Yağız İpek from their active roster.
The 2021 world champion joined NAVI ahead of the 2023 VCT, replacing Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks from the former FunPlus Phoenix FunPlus Phoenix Inactive SUYGETSU Dmitry Ilyushin Zyppan Pontus Eek ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky ardiis Ardis Svarenieks roster to complete the team.
cNed and the rest of NAVI performed well at the first international event of the year, placing among the top four at LOCK//IN after losing to FNATIC FNATIC Europe Rank #2 Sayonara Ștefan Mîtcu stand-in Boaster Jake Howlett kaajak Kajetan Haremski Chronicle Timofey Khromov Alfajer Emir Ali Beder , the eventual victors of the tournament.
Looking to outperform their placement on the world stage, NAVI shakily qualified for Masters: Tokyo after placing fourth in the EMEA League. Unfortunately, the team failed to pick up a single win in Japan, and were sent home early after falling to NRG Esports NRG Esports North America Rank #2 FiNESSE Pujan Mehta s0m Sam Oh Verno Andrew Maust mada Adam Pampuch Ethan Ethan Arnold and EDward Gaming EDward Gaming China Rank #1 S1Mon Hsien Meng-Hsun (谢孟勋) ZmjjKK Zheng Yongkang (郑永康) nobody Wang Senxu (王森旭) CHICHOO Wan Shunzhi (万顺治) Smoggy Zhang Zhao (张钊) in Group A.
Relegated to the EMEA LCQ as part of their results, NAVI once again barely qualified to the next major event – Champions – after placing second in the LCQ. Their placement saw them thrown into Group D in Los Angeles alongside LOUD LOUD Brazil Rank #2 pANcada Bryan Luna saadhak Matias Delipetro tuyz Arthur Andrade cauanzin Cauan Pereira , DRX DRX Korea Rank #7 Flashback Cho Min-hyuk (조민혁) MaKo Kim Myeong-gwan (김명관) Athan Na Ha-jun (나하준) freeing No Ha-jun (노하준) HYUNMIN Song Hyun-min (송현민) , and Team Liquid Team Liquid Europe Rank #22 nAts Ayaz Akhmetshin Keiko Georgio Sanassy kamo Kamil Frąckowiak .
Despite just barely losing to DRX in their opener, NAVI were only able to oust Team Liquid from the tournament before being sent home themselves by LOUD in a close three-map series.
Forced to watch from the sidelines for the rest of the year, the organization began making changes to its roster by swapping out cNed for ardiis to reunite the old FPX core.
Following cNed's departure, Natus Vincere Natus Vincere Europe Rank #19 ANGE1 Kyrylo Karasov Shao Andrey Kiprsky is still: