In a stunning move, Natus Vincere announced on Friday that it will no longer field a Dota 2 team. The move comes after a disappointing year in which Na’Vi failed to make an impact at The International 5, and was unable to qualify for the Frankfurt major. The decision leaves some of the world’s best and most-beloved players without a team.
Na’Vi stuns eSports by dropping entire Dota 2 team, Dendi and company are now free agents
James Dator has been covering a wide range of sports for SB Nation for over a decade, with a special focus on the NFL.
The Na’Vi players have been silent, but the decision comes at the worst possible time. Frankfurt was the deadline for player transfers, which essentially leaves the five current players without good options. No team is going to upset its automatic qualifying bids to take on a former Na’Vi player, which leaves lower-level teams taking them on, or a new team formed -- in both cases they would need to fight through open qualifiers.
Dendi is the biggest name to be damaged by this decision. There has been talk of the 25-year-old’s game slipping in the last few months, but the reality is that he has been the only steadying force on a Na’Vi team that has shaken up its roster multiple times in the last year. Dendi remains one of the most popular players in the world, too, which would influence a team’s decision to sign him.
SoNNeikO will be in high demand. The 18-year-old support is considered one of the up-and-coming stars of Dota 2, with fan speculation running rampant following The International 5 that he would leave Na’Vi for Virtus Pro. That didn’t come to pass but there is little doubt that SoNNeikO will be highly sought after when teams can sign him without penalty.
This is a sad day not only for Na’Vi fans, but Dota 2 fans in general. Na’Vi has been one of the world’s most popular teams for the last five years, and it’s hard to imagine professional Dota without them.
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