2020-06-18 2019-09-20 September 20, 2019

CIS esports organization Natus Vincere announced their complete roster post the Berlin Major. Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács joins the team replacing former IGL Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko while Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy joins the team as their coach.

GuardiaN was one of the best AWP players in CS:GO at his peak and has spent the majority of his CS:GO career in Natus Vincere. He transferred to Faze Clan in August 2017 when he replaced Aleksi “allu” Jalli on the International roster. However, in the two years since then, Faze Clan has been a prime example of a failed superstar International team.

We have officially transferred @guardiancsgo to Natus Vincere. Thank you Ladislav for everything you've done for us, including the 8 Championships you helped bring home 🏆#FaZeUp pic.twitter.com/HclEnWddfM — FaZe Clan (@FaZeClan) September 20, 2019

GuardiaN returns to Na’Vi

“It’s nice to come back home, where I started my long journey as a professional player. I will do my best to give this team everything I can, for it to become the best team and to win a major. Thank you for this opportunity.”

GuardiaN is not a new name to Natus Vincere fans. The Slovakian player was one of the world’s best players during his time on Na’Vi from 2013 to 2017. But despite his individual performance, Na’Vi was unable to win a Major and remains one of the few top-tier organizations yet to win a Major.

Role changes within Na’Vi

GuardiaN’s addition to Na’Vi will mean several role-changes within the team. He is one of the world’s best AWP players and will continue in that role on Na’Vi. His addition to the team allows S1mple to take on a more active role as a rifler on the team.

Na’Vi’s lineup is more flexible thanks to Ladislav’s addition. With S1mple as the rifler, Guardian as the AWP and Boombi4 as the IGL, everything seems to be set in place for the CIS roster.

Despite S1mple’s outstanding performance on the AWP, Na’Vi is unable to match the best player in the world. S1mple won the OMEN Challenge presented by HLTV.

A new IGL and a new coach

With the departure of Zeus, Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov takes on the mantle of the In-Game Leader for the team. The former Quantum Bellator Fire player has experienced sharing responsibilities with Zeus at the Starladder Berlin Major. He has an aggressive leadership style, which suits the high individual talent on the CIS team.

Na’Vi has some of the best players in the world such as S1mple, Electronic and now Guardian. With an aggressive playstyle, the Natus Vincere players can use their superior firepower to their advantage.

“I’ve been working with Andrii side by side for over half a year and I can certainly say that he’s super solid, and his systematic approach to work is exactly what we need now.”

Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy will join the team as the coach. In fact, according to Na’Vi CEO Yevhen Zolotarov, they have already been working with B1ad3 for several months.

The new Na’Vi roster:

Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (captain)

Kirill “BoombI4” Mikhailov (IGL)

Denis “electroNic” Sharipov

Egor “flamie” Vasilev

Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovács (AWPer)

Andrii “B1ad3” Gorodenskyi (coach)

Eugene “ug1n” Yerofeyev (manager)

The new Natus Vincere roster will compete at the upcoming DreamHack Masters Malmö 2019, a $250,000 tournament from October 1 to October 6.

Written by Rohan Samal