NAVI Nearly Changed Roster, Coach Says

At the Esports World Cup on August 12, 2026 in Paris, Natus Vincere opened the season with a 13-9 win over 3DMAX. Coach Andrey ‘B1ad3’ Gorodenskiy said the club came close to making roster changes in the off-season but transfer talks collapsed and the same five players started the season.

Gorodenskiy told reporters that NAVI spoke with agents and individual players and that some negotiations reached advanced stages. Competing offers from other teams and breakdowns in talks prevented any signings. ‘We tried some negotiations, but it didn’t go well. We were close to making some changes… there was competition for these players, and we couldn’t do anything,’ he said.

The coach cited continuity as a reason to retain the lineup. The current five have been together for more than a year since makazze joined, and the squad won two tournaments last season.

During the off-season NAVI reviewed matches to identify specific errors, extended their practice period and took nearly two months away from official events. Gorodenskiy persuaded club management to skip the BLAST Bounty event and the team held a bootcamp in Barcelona, working map by map before returning to competition.

Changes to the map pool affected NAVI’s plans. Overpass was removed and Cache returned to the rotation. Gorodenskiy said the updated pool gives the team opportunities to use their shared systems and to surprise opponents who have current scrim data. He declined to say how much time was spent on Cache and noted that official matches provide a different test than scrims. ‘We will try to surprise teams with Cache,’ he said.

Gorodenskiy identified early tournaments, steady improvement in team play and results at the Major as measures to confirm the decision to keep the roster. He added that if the team finishes the season without trophies, further changes could be considered. ‘No trophies, they will tell me we need to change, for sure,’ he said.