UPDATE: BakaBryan has since confirmed he did not sign with Natus Vincere. A previous version of thisarticle had listed him as a Na'Vi substitute. Vale has also since left the roster, with Lazzo movingto a playing position.
Despite Mock-it Esports, the ex-German champions, spending the majority of last season without an org, they finished off Season 8 as the second-placed team in Europe before falling to the eventual runners-up, FaZe Clan, during the offline Pro League Finals by a score of 5-7, 6-2, 3-6.
Now, with the roster sitting in seventh place in the European region’s Pro League, and an early exit from the 2019 Six Invitational, they will finish the rest of the Season 9 under the banner of one of the largest organisations in the world; Natus Vincere.
Na’Vi is best known for their Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) roster which was the first one in the history of the game to win three major tournaments in one calendar year back in 2010. More recently, the Na’Vi roster took home over $1.1 million in prize money in 2018 alone, including nine top-two finishes in notable events.
Na’Vi also has a significant history in Dota 2, in which they achieved three back-to-back grand-final appearances in the premier esports event, The International, from 2011 to 2013 and the organisation also fields active rosters in PlayersUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), Fortnite, and Paladins, with them twice making the World Championship grand-finals in the latter.
The current Na’Vi CS:GO roster.
While Na’Vi is Ukrainian based and known for their all-Eastern European lineups in CS:GO and Dota, the acquisition of a German roster is not unusual for the organisation for they have a number of lineups from the rest of Europe and around the world.
Firstly, back in 2014, Na’Vi had a North American Dota roster consisting of four Americans and one Canadian player, while their current Fortnite roster is all-Swedish. Secondly, their current Paladins and ex-Heartstone lineup consist of mainly Nordic players from countries including Finland, Denmark, Germany, and Sweden. All of this makes the acquisition of one Swiss and seven Germans that make up the Mock-it roster rather ordinary despite Na’Vi’s reputation to pick up players from mainly just Ukraine and Russia.
We asked Lukas "korey" Zwingmann some short questions about what it’s like to be picked up by such a massive organisation:
You are being picked up by a massive organisation like Natus Vincere, how are you guys feeling about this, and how did this come about?
First of all, we are very happy to work together with such an immense organisation and we are more than pleased that they put their trust in us and want to get us back to our second place.
You guys are currently in seventh place, a far cry from your Season 8 position of second. Clearly, the organisation has faith in you, but some might say this signing is an odd one. What do you have to say to your doubters?
Our seventh place standing is something that I agree doesn't look very promising, but Natus Vincere has put their full trust into our roster and has offered us a lot of support which will hopefully lead us back to not only more of our normal strength, but also to a top league position. I expect a lot of people to doubt us but this has always been a thing for us, going into any tournament or even into the Season 8 Pro League season where people called it a bad trade when Mock-it sold their roster to PENTA and picked us up.
Korey at the Six Invitational 2019 via @Peterhchau
While the size and stature of Na’Vi certainly qualifies the organisation for a team skin, charm, and uniform, it is unlikely that they will be involved in the upcoming drop of revenue-shared cosmetics just as G2 Esports was omitted from the initial team skin releases as their signing was confirmed just a bit too late. However, as this acquisition apparently one of the biggest in Rainbow Six history, it is clear the organisation is here for the promising roster rather than the revenue-share income.
Natus Vincere’s next game will be against PENTA Sports on March 14th when the Pro League restarts with the following roster:
Niklas "KS" Massierer
Jan "ripz" Hucke
Lukas "korey" Zwingmann
Pascal "Cry1NNN" Alouane
Lasse "Lazzo" Klie
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You can learn more about this roster by checking out our interview with Korey right here and for more interviews and updates on more upcoming roster changes keep an eye out right here at SiegeGG!