sdy makes way for npl in NAVI

Natus Vincere have announced that they have parted ways with Viktor “⁠sdy⁠” Orudzhev. The 25-year-old leaves the team after a seven-month trial stint, which began with NAVI winning the BLAST Premier Spring Final and ended in 5th-6th place at the BLAST Premier World Final.

At the last event, sdy shared his time on the roster with former NAVI Junior member npl, who has now become a permanent member of the main team despite an underwhelming debut in Abu Dhabi. The 17-year-old played one map of each of NAVI’s three series at the World Final against Vitality, Heroic, and Liquid, and averaged a 0.67 rating.

npl is expected to make his official debut as a permanent member of the team at the BLAST Premier Spring Groups, which are yet to be officially announced but are expected to take place in the last two weeks of January. Natus Vincere will then play in the group stage of IEM Katowice, which kicks off on February 2 following the conclusion of the Play-in stage.

sdy has released a Twitlonger statement, in which he expressed his thankfulness for the experienced he garnered with Natus Vincere and their achievements, which included a victory at the Spring Final, a runners-up finish at IEM Cologne, and playoffs finishes at ESL pro League Season 16 and the IEM Rio Major.

“I would have never imagined how fast I could learn in and out of the game. I now understand and have proper vision on how things should work as well as the best ways to make a great team,” sdy said.

“Now I’m looking for a new home where I can bring what I’ve learned, and where we can put it all together and bring back trophies!”

Natus Vincere have the following five:

Oleksandr “⁠s1mple⁠” Kostyliev
Denis “⁠electroNic⁠” Sharipov
Ilya “⁠Perfecto⁠” Zalutskiy
Valeriy “⁠b1t⁠” Vakhovskiy
Andrii “⁠npl⁠” Kukharskyi

Andrey “⁠B1ad3⁠” Gorodenskiy (coach)