Counter-Strike 2 analyst Duncan “Thorin” Shields has commented on the current form of the Natus Vincere roster. In a podcast on the Last Free Nation Counter-Strike channel, he stated that the team lacks firepower and a strong map pool.
“We are currently observing NAVI’s trajectory,” Thorin said. “At the end of last year, everyone excused their performances at the major and BLAST events, saying, ‘It’s okay, it’s not that bad, you were still the best team in the world, and anyone can screw up at a major – it happens.’ However, after reaching the top level, you shouldn’t have many competitors, and NAVI is almost obligated to reach the semifinals consistently.
“But this NAVI lineup looks simply awful. ‘We have the best players in our team.’ Not anymore. You have b1t and iM – that’s it. JL isn’t showing impressive play, everyone is waiting for w0nderful to be kicked, and Aleksib has never been a fragger.
“And now look at NAVI’s map pool – the team has significant problems. If you weren’t aware, they haven’t played even six different maps on LAN. NAVI hasn’t even played on Anubis yet. They have five maps in their pool, and currently, they will only win on Mirage, possibly on Inferno and Dust2 if it’s not banned. That’s all. NAVI is bad on Nuke, and their Ancient is a complete disgrace. <…> I’m already worried about this team, it’s like they are standing on the edge of a cliff.”
Natus Vincere began their participation in ESL Pro League Season 21 with a defeat against SAW in the second group stage. In a best-of-three series, Aleksib Virolainen’s team won only on Inferno, losing on Nuke and Ancient.
