Next Chapter: cNed parts ways with NA’VI Valorant roster
Mehmet “cNed” İpek has now ended his tenure with Natus Vincere (NA’VI). The Turkish superstar spent a year with the European squad in their bid for a title winning roster. NA’VI has now announced his departure through Twitter on the 11th of October.
“cNed” was a fast-rising star in the Valorant professional circuit since his debut in 2020. By early 2021, he was noted as the strongest performer on Acend, where he spent over a year as the team's duelist. With Acend, he won the first Champions trophy and alongside Tyson “TenZ” Ngo, was considered one of the two best mechanical players of the time from their respective regions.
He is now connected with the rebuild of the FUT Esports roster ahead of the 2024 season. FUT had earlier announced the benching of three of their players, and “cNed” appears slated for the second version of the FUT Turkish super roster.
Turkish Mainstay
His career has been relatively turbulent since his peak of winning Champions in 2021. He was placed on the inactive roster by Acend in late 2022. This was following Acend’s failure to make Champions 2022 despite “cNed” retaining his skill level for the most part. However, it was not long after that “cNed” was announced to be joining the NA’VI project, to replace Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks, who had departed the former-FPX core for North American roster, NRG.
The initial performance of “cNed” was extremely impressive, and promised a NA’VI team form that could contend for a title, even without “ardiis.” Sadly, NA’VI’s form continued to deteriorate, proving an inconsistent home even for one of “cNed’s” skill. NA’VI did qualify for Champions 2023 through the Last Chance Qualifier, however, bombed out of the tournament near dead last.
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Credit: Lee Aiksoon/Riot Games