NAVI Officially Announce "w0nderful" to stand in for s1mple
Natus Vincere has officially announced the signing of 18-year-old Ukrainian sensation, Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov, to replace the legendary Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev. This major roster change comes in the wake of s1mple's decision to take a break from competitive play, leaving big shoes to fill for the young AWPer.
Dream Come True for w0nderful
Expressing his excitement about joining the iconic NAVI organization, he acknowledged the daunting task of stepping into s1mple's shoes. He stated,
"I'm excited to join such a legendary organization as NAVI! It was my biggest dream ever since I started playing CS. I know it's hard to fully replace a player of s1mple's caliber and fulfill everyone's expectations, but trust me, I'll do everything in my power."
w0nderful's rise in the CS:GO scene has been nothing short of remarkable. The young prodigy spent three months with Sprout, where he stood out as the best player. Boasting an impressive 1.29 rating across 120 maps. Prior to that, he showcased his talent with the Spirit squad, earning the highest rating and making it to the playoffs at the IEM Rio Major in 2022-2023.
Sprout announced their new roster ahead of IEM Cologne 2023Image Source: @sproutGG on X (formerly Twitter)
Upcoming Challenges for NAVI
w0nderful's first major challenge as a part of NAVI will be at the BLAST Premier Fall Final. Which is scheduled for November 22–26 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The team has also secured a spot in the BLAST Premier World Final. This one is set to take place from December 13–17 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. To prepare for these events, NAVI will embark on a boot camp in Barcelona, where w0nderful will integrate into the roster alongside the newly appointed performance coach, Urszula "Xirreth" Klimczak, who joined from ENCE earlier this month.
NAVI's Current Roster
As of now, Natus Vincere's roster comprises the following players:
- Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy
- Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen
- Justinas "jL" Lekavicius
- Ivan "iM" Mihai
- Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov
Andrey "B1ad3" Gorodenskiy will continue in his role as the coach for the team.
With this exciting addition to the NAVI roster, the CS2 community eagerly anticipates how w0nderful will fare in filling the void left by s1mple. Can he rise to the occasion and help NAVI maintain their competitive edge on the international stage? We will soon have the answer in our hands.
Featured Image Source: VaKarM
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