The Rise and Fall of Na`Vi November 22nd, 2016 20:13 GMT Text by ShiaoPi Graphics by Nixer IntroThe Beginnings of GreatnessNa`Vi seizes the ThroneUndisputed Kings?Na`Vi, Flame of the WestThe Times They Are A-Changing3rd Time’s the Charm?The Changing of the GuardThe End of an EraBack to the Drawing BoardCrash and BurnSlow and SteadyThe Weight of ExpectationsThe Final Curtain? The Rise and Fall of Na`Vi

- A Retrospective

Natus Vincere. Born to Win. A simple yet bold statement fitting for one of the most legendary franchises in Dota 2 history. In stark contrast to the current scene, the beginning of Dota 2 had a clear king and he was wearing the famed Black and Yellow of the Ukrainian-based organisation.



Artstyle, Puppey, Dendi, XBOCT and LighTofHeaveN — the TI-winning squad from 2011 — would go on to be undisputed rulers of the early scene and their lasting influence on playstyle and mentality can be seen in the entire CIS-region. While the current roster’s future is still in the air, I invite you all to join me in reliving the past glories and bitter defeats of the first team to have taken home the Aegis and put their stamp on a whole era. The Beginnings of Greatness By now, we are all used to packed stadiums, multi-million dollar prizepools and standing at the pinnacle of esports. As such, it is easy to forget the roots of the game we love, the genesis of Dota 2. Back in 2011, the DotA scene hardly resembled what we know today. With the western tournament scene in decline, it was a dark time for the region’s professional players. Even the west’s best cowered to the Chinese Juggernaut that loomed menacingly over the few interregional tournaments of the era. The Chinese scene was superior in infrastructure, organisation and growth, and thus had the competitive edge.



The formation of Na`Vi’s Dota 2 squad in 2011 sparked a new hope in a potential superteam. Not only did it include 3 of DTS-Gaming’s best, a roster counted among the few that could compete with the Chinese, it was captained by Puppey from the renowned KingSurf.International squad and rounded out by rising star XBOCT from the original 2010 Na`Vi team. Right from the beginning, the new Na`Vi made a huge splash as MYM, Nirvana.int and GG.net all suffered defeat at the hands of the new boys on the block. Their newfound dominance came at a fortuitous time, directly preceding the announcement of the biggest esports event in DotA history.

Na`Vi seizes the Throne - The International 2011

Na`Vi’s Winning Moment

A new era was heralded wIth the announcement of The International and the grand unveiling of Dota 2, which breathed new life into the competitive scene. The western tournament scene had largely petered out, and their hopes rested on the success of this new game and the competition Valve had promised. In contrast, the scant two-week period between the announcement of the tournament and the commencement of play was a tumultuous time for the Chinese wedge of the DotA sphere. The scene was hesitant to switch to a new game on a buggy engine with countless issues. While the prospect of The International certainly enticed them, the eastern overlords were not yet ready to give up their attachment to the WarCraft III Custom Map they had become accustomed to.



Regardless of these issues, the very first Dota 2 tournament would be the most important one for quite a while. Not only did we have a record-breaking prizepool, but it was also the stage of a long-awaited East vs. West showdown. Coming into the very first TI, Na`Vi took on the role of the dark horse of the tournament. While they were certainly creating waves, they had only 2 months to gel before Cologne. As the games would go on to show, those 2 months would be plenty for ArtStyle to whip his squad into a cohesive unit as they almost went undefeated in their championship run.



What exactly was the secret to their winning formula?

While this famous quote was given to us at TI2, it represents the truth for Cologne as well.

From the get go, ArtStyle’s drafts focused heavily on winning lanes and scoring pick-offs while also being capable of holding their own in teamfights. One could even say that TI 2011’s Na`Vi were the pioneers of snowballing Dota in a time in which the meta seemingly favored safe and stable play, holding out until the stereotypical agility carry had “finished farming”. While Na`Vi’s preference for tanky strength cores on their farming 1 was not exclusive to them, they only fell back on the “classical agility” carries twice during the entire tournament, both times in the finals. Enabled by the strong teamfighting provided by their usual AA, Chen, or Tidehunter picks, ArtStyle developed a lethal early to midgame timing window for Na`Vi to abuse, often taking towers at an astonishing speed after won teamfights.



This gameplan relied on crisp execution and almost hivemind-like coordination between the players. This Na`Vi squad proved to be more than able to fit the vision of their captain because the players on the team were among the best individually, and their collective hero pool was wide and often interchangeable, allowing for a variety of drafts. One also has to take into account that each team only had 4 bans, making it a lot harder to draft against TI 2011’s Na`Vi. Opposing captains could take out some components of ArtStyle’s plan, but he would always have a backup ready, ex: Viper mid when Dendi’s Ancient Apparition was denied, or Enigma as a jungler to replace Chen.



The fluidity of the team’s drafts and play made the CIS squad into the nightmare incarnate, haunting their competition at Cologne, sweeping series against the vast majority of the field. There was one team in Cologne, however, that managed to make Na`Vi look mortal. EHOME, the masters of the East, were the only ones to actually take a game off Na`Vi during The International.



In the first game of the series, EHOME managed to stifle ArtStyle’s timing through superior initiation and farming efficiency; they had clearly come prepared for it. They simply outlasted Na`Vi in fights, whittling them down until superior scaling allowed EHOME to take the fight back towards Na`Vi’s base and take the win in a hard-fought game 1. Adapting to the unexpected loss, Na`Vi decided to turn it one gear down in game 2, picking a Spectre to give them the necessary punch should it go to the late game and slowing down the pace of their pushes.



Na`Vi were rewarded with a 2-1 lead in the series (including the 1-0 advantage of the Winner’s Bracket), and again fell back on the Spectre contingency plan in what would prove to be the final game of Cologne. Na`Vi had done it; they had taken down the Chinese overlords. With superior versatility in their hero pool and their strategies, they had rightfully taken their place on the throne as world champions.

Undisputed Kings? - The Leadup to TI2 Following their triumph in Cologne, Na`Vi had to deal with a surprise blow to their strength. The very man who led them to the victory that cemented their position at the top of the world had left the team amidst controversy regarding prizepool cuts. Some fans immediately began to doubt the longevity of the team as their captain had played such an important role, but these concerns were promptly silenced when Na`Vi crushed through all opposition at Electronic Sports World Cup 2011 to take home yet another trophy. Standing in for them was Smile (or ARS-ART) a legend himself from the Virtus.pro squad that dominated versions 6.43-6.48; he quickly transitioned into a permanent member to fill in the void left by ArtStyle.



With that single LAN victory, Na`Vi began their golden days in a tournament scene that was admittedly still in its infancy. The International had brought in the world’s attention but the infrastructure for today’s esports circuit still had yet to be built up. There was always a single question at each and every one of the premier tournaments: Can anyone stop Na`Vi?



The answer to that was a clear and resounding no.



Date Placement Tier Event Prize 2011-08-21 1st Premier The International 2011 $1,000,000 2011-10-25 1st Premier Electronic Sports World Cup 2011 $12,000 2011-12-11 2nd Premier Dota2 Star Championship $5,000 2012-03-04 1st Premier The Defense Season 1 $7,917.48 2012-03-11 1st Premier The Premier League Season 1 $5,000 2012-04-29 1st Premier StarLadder StarSeries Season 1 $6,000 2012-06-18 2nd Premier DreamHack Summer 2012 $6,000 2012-07-08 1st Premier The Premier League Season 2 $5,000 2012-07-31 1st Premier StarLadder StarSeries Season 2 $6,000

Na`Vi went through the majority of the 2012 season undefeated on LAN and rightly feared by everyone online. As the year passed into summer however, a new challenger arose in the western scene. Mortal Teamwork, led by syndereN, did what had been deemed impossible by many when his team took down Na`Vi on LAN at Dreamhack Summer 2012. The Kings had been humbled just before TI would have its second iteration in Seattle. Suddenly it seemed that Na`Vi would have to relinquish their stranglehold on the western scene.



While Na`Vi continued to collect gold medals in the coming months, the last premier tournament before TI2 saw Na`Vi bombing out of The Defense Season 2. Having looked untouchable for the majority of the season, the giant had been wounded at an event that seemed to foreshadow a capitulation during their title defense. Most shockingly of all, the defeat came at the hands of a western team amidst a scene that had been considered Na`Vi’s backyard.

Na`Vi, Flame of the West - The International 2012 Enter Seattle—the second iteration of The International arrived in 2012. The defending champions had been shaky towards the tail end of the season and new challengers were out for their blood. The beginning of the tournament did not bode well for Na`Vi’s ambition to defend their title; when they started off with an abysmal 2-5 record during the first day of groupstage matches, all hope for a seed into the winner’s bracket seemed lost. Just as people began to count them out, Na`Vi rallied , shook off their early jitters and clawed their way back to the upper half, finishing the groups on an astonishing 8-6 result.



While their rebound from their early defeats was promising, the defending champions were in dire straits as the Chinese had come to Seattle to take the title they regarded as rightfully theirs. iG and LGD led the charge from the East, having dominated their respective groups . Against all odds, however, it was the ailing Na`Vi that many had disregarded as slumping beforehand that managed to make it through to the semifinals, dispatching BurNIng’s DK along the way. While teams like mTw, CLG and CompLexity failed to stave off the Chinese onslaught, Na`Vi stood strong. And as the second day came to pass there was only a single western team left standing in Benaroya hall: Natus Vincere. Suddenly, TI2 had turned into Na`Vi vs. the East. Na`Vi met this challenge head on with their customary style in one of the most legendary teamfights in Dota 2 History: The Play.



Defeating what had seemed to be an unstoppable blade that had pierced through the majority of the western teams already, Na`Vi managed to utterly destroy the notorious Naga Siren/Dark Seer/Tidehunter ultimate combination in



I remember it well, my absolute disbelief as I watched it unfolding live. The game had been hanging in the balance the entire time, with a single teamfight likely to determine the outcome. My eyes glazed over as the morning hours had come and gone, and my eyelids peeled back to witness Na`Vi all caught in the sleep. I was ready to accept that this TI would become an all-Chinese affair, but halfway towards burying my head in desperation, my feelings of impending doom abated and turned into utter disbelief. And then, uncontainable joy.



Sleep-deprived as I was, I did not even see Zhou’s crucial mistake in positioning that proved to be so fatal. All I saw was 5 dead heroes from iG with barely a scratch on any of Na`Vi’s. It took everything I had left to contain my desire to jump up, join Benaroya Hall in screaming “Na`Vi” from the top of my lungs and wake each and every neighbor. It was in that moment that I truly understood what “Na`Vi Magic” was all about, and the moment I decided never to count Na`Vi out regardless of the odds. To this day “The Play” remains one of my favorite moments of Dota 2 and I am sure many of you feel the same way.



Dendi shouting down a stricken iG

iG lost the game and the series and looked mentally crushed as well, while the CIS-squad went out to bathe in the deafening chants of the crowd.



With this knockout blow to what had been one of the most star-studded Chinese rosters in history, Na`Vi once again looked like the unstoppable force that had rolled over Cologne. This made the Winner’s Bracket Finals a match everyone was dying to see. Na`Vi vs LGD, the rugged but revitalised champions, that had defeated what should have been invincible, against the squad that, under the leadership of The Director xiao8, was immaculate so far at Seattle. LGD was 18-0 in games and never looked like they had any trouble with the various other challengers. This was the matchup everyone had asked for.



After the first game, LGD seemed to be in the driver’s seat, increasing their streak to 19-0. But then, Na`Vi struck back, grinding down the Chinese in the following two games for a 2-1 victory. The European hope had made the impossible happen yet again: they had reached consecutive finals of The International. Well worthy of carrying the title of defending champions, Na`Vi had shown strength and fortitude and returned to championship form just in time for another spectacular performance.



What had looked like a picture-perfect, fairy-tale ending was cut short however as iG rebounded for the final day and managed to beat Na`Vi convincingly, abusing their experience of having suffered such a humiliating defeat before. Nevertheless, Na`Vi’s performance had left little doubt that the kings were far from relinquishing their throne. Even a loss on the grandest of stages just cemented them as the best team over the entire 2011-2012 period, especially as iG quickly found itself hounded by the now dreaded “TI Champion’s curse” shortly after their triumph.

The Times They Are A-Changing - Roster changes and the stiffening competition In the aftermath of TI2, Na`Vi seemed to be remarkably stable. They continued to expand their collection of trophies by adding ESWC 2012 and another Starladder to their name. A freak elimination by EG during Dreamhack Winter 2012, coupled with a trio of new challengers in the European scene (Empire, Fnatic.EU, and noTidehunter) strained the nimbus of Na`Vi’s dominance. Eventually the team decided that they needed changes and in February 2013 long-time member LighTofHeaveN left alongside Smile, who were replaced by Funn1k and KuroKy respectively, forming the roster that would go unchanged until after TI4.



Nobody doubted the raw skill that the new additions brought to the table. KuroKy had a wealth of experience and Funn1k’s impact elevated Empire to a serious contender in the European region. Even with these new additions, Na`Vi still had to struggle to keep their grasp on top of the scene. Nevertheless, their gold medal at RaidCall EMS One showed the strength of their new roster as they went almost undefeated through the entire bracket, mauling the European opposition that had thought them vulnerable. Still, the black and yellow was no longer considered that far removed from the rest of the pack, since they had lost the consistency that had helped them claim title after title throughout 2011-2012.



As the road towards TI3 started to heat up, Na`Vi went for an unprecedented experiment: bootcamping in China in preparation for the upcoming clash in Seattle. While there, they also participated in the Alienware Cup, matching up against the best of the Chinese scene—oddly reminiscent of their TI2 experience. Following a terrible groupstage record of 1-7, Na`Vi went on to slay Chinese giants one after another in series play to take home the entire tournament.



The Dota world was baffled; barely a month before TI, a single western team had humiliated the Chinese scene before their home crowd. Gone was the slight sneer of Na`Vi “resting on old laurels”, back was the fear of the

3rd Time’s the Charm? - The International 2013 Coming into TI3, Na`Vi certainly had all the world’s attention, fresh from earning a shiny new batch of gold medals. They were one of the favorites to dominate, and dominate they did, starting off their campaign with a superb 11-3 performance in the group stage. They were only outdone by Alliance’s 14-0 in the other group, mirroring the clinic LGD and iG had put on the year prior. Once the main event started however, Na`Vi looked mortal, especially in comparison to Alliance, who racked up their streak to 17-0 before finally dropping a map to Burning’s DK.



Na`Vi’s struggles began in the first series against Orange, who were on the first steps of their own miraculous run that would end in 3rd place. While shaken by the stiff resistance, Na`Vi rallied and took them down to advance into the Winner’s Semis against TongFu, who would prove to be the strongest Chinese team at that year’s TI. The first clash between these two proved to be all too easy for Dendi’s Pudge as he racked up hook after hook, gutting and devouring his opponents. Yet TongFu recovered and retaliated with a quick game 2 victory and brought Na`Vi to the edge in the decider.



With the early game lost and their tickets to the lower bracket all but punched, Na`Vi dug deep and pulled out their trusted magic to fend off their confident opponents. Fountain hook after fountain hook hit, in an impressive showing of what true team fight coordination means, until finally the balance was tipped back into their favor, Na`Vi had staged a miraculous comeback and shown that they meant business this time around..



“Na`Vi magic”, now recognized by Valve as well

Having dispatched of the eastern challengers, the Winner’s Bracket Finals was THE match everyone had been waiting for since the groups concluded. The flawless Alliance, Kings of the North, against Na`Vi, ever-present magician at TI with the confidence of champions.. For all the hype that went into the match however, the first clash between these two did not live up to the expectations whatsoever. Crushed in 2 games just under 30 minutes, Na`Vi looked inferior in every way and were sent reeling into the lower bracket to face a rematch with Orange Esports.



The Malaysians had had one of the most impressive Lower Bracket runs in TI history as they eliminated all the remaining chinese teams. It all came down to the deciding game 3 in their second shot at Na`Vi. Taking the early lead, Orange looked on the verge of making it through to the Grand Finals when tragically, a single misclick threw them off balance as kYxY accidentally denied the aegis that would have enabled them to breach Na`Vi’s base. Sniffing blood in the water, Na`Vi pounced and exploited the sudden weakness on Orange and took them down for a right to challenge Alliance again.



Despite all the struggles in the individual games, Na`Vi had done it again, they were in the Grand Finals of The International for the third time in a row, a feat that is unparalleled even to this day. Not one team had managed to achieve a repeat appearance on the grandest of stages and Na`Vi had done it thrice. It truly marked the highpoint of Na`Vi’s Dota squad and serves as the defining feat why the 2010-2014 years have rightly been dubbed the era of Na`Vi.



The Finals of TI3 are until today still hailed as one of the best series ever played in Dota 2 and that is more than rightfully so. Writing anything about the finals without doing a full recap, examining each and every stratagem and play these two Titans threw at each other, would not do this series any justice. If there are still fans out there that somehow have not seen the full series, drop whatever it is you are doing now and go rewatch it



This exciting series also marked the starting point of “El Classico” the continued clashes between Na`Vi and Alliance in the coming season, delivering some of the most memorable moments in Dota 2.

The Changing of the Guard - The Slow Decline of 2014 In the wake of TI3, it looked like Na`Vi’s time of dominance that had been so stable throughout the years would never end. They even found some belated revenge against Alliance in their numerous meetings in finals of the tournament circuit as they took the Swedes down to win Starladder Season 7 and WePlay Season 2 just a couple of months after Seattle.



But the competition never sleeps and new challengers arose, particularly in the western regions. EU and NA upstarts began to make names for themselves; Speed Gaming with EternalEnvy and aui_2000, and the reformed EG around Fear and the new talents of ppd and Arteezy. As the challengers matured and gathered more experience, Na`Vi’s grip on the scene seemed to loosen, often looking like they had trouble to keep up with the times.



Date Placement Tier Event Prize 2013 2013-08-11 2nd Premier The International 2013 $632,364 2013-10-13 1st Premier StarLadder StarSeries Season 7 $12,000 2013-11-10 1st Premier WePlay Dota2 League Season 2 $13,000 2013-11-17 1st Premier Techlabs Cup 2013 Grand Final $12,500 2013-11-24 3-4th Premier MLG Championship Columbus $13,696 2013-11-30 1st Premier DreamLeague Kick-Off Season $25,000 2013-12-05 5-6th Premier Dota 2 Champions League Season 1 $0 2013-12-08 3-4th Premier RaidCall EMS One Fall Season $4,000 2014 2014-01-19 1st Premier StarLadder StarSeries Season 8 $62,000 2014-03-19 4-5th Major MLG T.K.O. Europe $1,500 2014-04-01 2nd Major XMG Captains Draft Invitational $9,650 2014-04-15 1st Premier Dota 2 Champions League Season 2 $61,500 2014-04-19 5-6th Premier StarLadder StarSeries Season 9 $7,500 2014-05-10 7-11th Premier DreamLeague Season 1 $8,000 2014-05-29 7-8th Premier Dota 2 Champions League Season 3 $0 2014-06-07 4th Premier The Summit 1 $13,235 Notice the remarkable lack of high finishes as the season entered its second half before TI4.

The reasons for Na`Vi’s troubles were unfortunately as numerous as they were diverse. With an ever changing metagame, Na`Vi’s style of hard and loose Dota began to lose it’s efficiency. The introduction of major gameplay changes such as Rosh respawn timers, and reworked buybacks dealt a crippling blow to the team’s favored “DAVAI”-Dota, but those changes only underscored deeper problems within the team. Na`Vi had been so consistently dominant because they had also been experts at adjusting their play to the ever changing balance and metagame, why should it have been any different this time around?



Having achieved the pinnacle of the scene with 3 straight TI Grand Finals the weight of expectations had risen to a staggering amount. Expectations of their organisation, their fans, and most importantly their own made it difficult for the team to work out its problems in adapting to the evolving game. Instead, Na`Vi’s team cohesion started to show cracks. We will never know the entire story of what happened behind closed doors but it is quite obvious that the internal issues and differing opinions within the team tore it apart as they found themselves in a sudden and unusual drought of successes.



Nevertheless, many still had hopes in the “Na`Vi TI Magic” as Na`Vi entered TI4 looking not much like a contender. They had always shown up on the biggest stage, surely this time would be no different.

The End of an Era - The International 2014 Key Arena hosted the showdown of The International 2014. While there was no need to prove themselves, it was the chance for Na`Vi to set the record straight, to show the world that regardless their form going into Seattle, the magical Na`Vi would always show up whenever the stakes were the highest. With the baggage of their lackluster form throughout the season, however, there were no fireworks to be shot. TI4 was a thoroughly average tournament for the yellow-clad legends as they barely made it through groups to play in Key Arena and were promptly and ignominiously eliminated in their first match 1-2 against Cloud9.





Na`Vi at The International 2014

In more than one sense, it was just a continuation of their declining play since the latter half of 2014. The old Na`Vi spark of genius, the carefree attitude, and the will to persevere against all odds, once trademarks of Na`Vi, all were gone from the team. Meekly ushered out of the competition at 7th-8th, there was no spectacle to be seen, instead the final official match of one of the most accomplished teams relying on the Na`Vi keystones of Dendi, XBOCT and Puppey quietly went under.



It had become clear that things were not working out anymore, the old glue that had kept them together for such a long and dominant time had vanished. While it came as a shock to the Dota2 world, it had been long in the making; Na`Vi’s roster would go separate ways. Puppey and KuroKy left to form Team Secret, and Funn1k, XBOCT, and Dendi were left behind with the task of picking up the pieces of what had once been nigh invincible.



The Na`Vi that had dominated the competition throughout 2010-2014 had faded into the pages of history.

Back to the Drawing Board - The Struggle to Find a Captain for the Ailing Ship The void left behind Puppey and KuroKy’s departure could not have been larger (and that is not only because of Puppey’s height). For the majority of Na`Vi’s “Golden Era” it had been Puppey at the reins, and as it turned out, replacing the captain of a ship amidst the turmoil of a raging sea was much easier said than done. They first tried to bring in relative newcomers to the scene VANSKOR and fng but after just a couple of months with middling results and seemingly no signs of improvement fng was cut again.



While fng had not been able to instantly “make Na`Vi great again”, under his captainship Na`Vi had looked set on a direction even if it took a while to get them there. Even more frustrating not only for him but also for fans was the timing of the roster change, just after they had finally won a LAN again. Unfortunately for the CIS team, fng’s exit did not help at all. Na`Vi tried out an old and grizzled veteran in Goblak next for the peculiar position of captain; the most important issue seemed to be that it was difficult for the veterans of so many LANs to listen to a “rookie”.



What Goblak had over fng in terms of age and authority he however lacked in terms of game plan and individual ability, and his short stint in the yellow reflected these shortcomings. With Funn1k deciding to call it quits, even if only temporarily, Na`Vi’s revolving roster and lack of signs of improvement began to invite hilarity within a competitive scene that had once revered the team and the organization.



Finally in April 2015 ,with only months to go until Seattle, Na`Vi settled down on it’s roster: now consisting of XBOCT, Dendi, Funn1k, Sonneiko and the return of ArtStyle to his most hallowed domain. As an invite was out of the question with the ramshackle state Na`Vi was in, their focus was all on the qualifiers, and it was surprising how well everything suddenly clicked in comparison to the state Na`Vi had been in before. That the team managed to emerge out of the European Qualifier at a time when few had given Na`Vi any chances of making it to TI5 evoked hopes that perhaps with their winning captain back from Cologne, the Na`Vi claim to the aegis was not dead just yet.

Crash and Burn - The International 5 While expectations had consistently been lowered over the course of the year, seeing Na`Vi crumble in Seattle was the final confirmation that the black and yellow had faded; not even a throwback to their championship halcyon days in the form of ArtStyle’s captaincy could help them bridge the gap they had suffered in regards to the elite Their failures were owed to a year with unstable rosters, ever-changing game plans and what we can only imagine as utmost frustration as nothing seemed to work at all.



A dispirited group stage performance was followed by a straight loss in the first round, eliminating the former champions with a record of 3-12 in last place. Na`Vi’s myth and source of fame, being the magicians of The International, was truly dead and buried. Not even the most diehard fans could now confidently say that Na`Vi was still among the elite.

Slow and Steady - Na`Vi’s journey through the Majors In fiction, there often comes the point at which the protagonist is at his absolute worst, where everything unravels at the seams and he is unable to regain control. Post-TI5 Na`Vi had reached exactly that point. Even the hope they had put into ArtStyle proved to be misplaced as the legendary captain was dropped from the roster in the aftermath of Seattle.



With Valve introducing the Majors to the Dota tournament scene, there was a clear path back to the top, a glimmer of hope to return to the echelon of the elite in which Na`Vi had endeavored for so long. Trying their luck first with PSM as captain, Na`Vi attempted to just soldier on despite all the problems they had faced, putting their faith into a future in which things would work out again.

The lowest point on their trajectory was still to come however as the squad failed to qualify to any LAN during PSM’s captaincy including the ever important Frankfurt Major.



Not unsurprisingly ,desperate times called for desperate measures, and Na`Vi decided to release the entire squad with the exception of the face of Dota, Dendi, and Sonneiko, a rising star support that had proven himself to be capable of filling the gaps left behind by Puppey and KuroKy’s play all the way back. Gone was XBOCT who had been with Na`Vi from the very beginning. Quite clearly, there would be no turning back now.



The following rebuilding process was slow and steady, instead of the previous season’s desperate attempts at quick bandaids for immediate results and a resulting lack of patience. In the end, the new Na`Vi that emerged was a very different one from the dominant one of their glory days. Taking the entirety of 4 months (including another failed attempt at qualification for the Shanghai Major) the team finally settled on Ditya Ra, Dendi, General, Sonneiko and ArtStyle as captain yet again. The patience was rewarded handsomely as this iteration of Na`Vi showed off more cohesion and promise than the countless others since the 2014 roster had gone their separate ways.



Na`Vi not only managed to qualify for LANs, which already was a huge step of improvement, they also achieved high finishes, a thing that would have been dismissed as fanfiction just prior. Rewarded by Valve via a direct invite to the last Major of the season, murmurs began to be heard that Na`Vi might actually be back on track. Although their result at Manila was middle-of-the-pack, that could easily be dismissed by the fact that they ran into eventual finalists OG and Team Liquid early on.



Hope began to stir once more, especially as we reached the pinnacle of Na`Vi’s pre-TI form at Starladder i-League Season 2 with a LAN victory after almost 2 years without a single gold medal to their name. Inevitably, with TI6 now rapidly approaching, the whispers were heard again:

Na`Vi was back for their rightful place in a TI Grand Final…





The lineup that started to represent hope

The Weight of Expectations - The International 2016 For a change since TI4 that ended the “Golden Era” of Na`Vi, this year’s world championships saw Na`Vi entering at an upward trajectory. They had steadily improved throughout the year, taking their time and building up a solid foundation before they had attempted another leap towards the top. The payoff had already been great so far, but would it hold up in Seattle?



Unfortunately for Na`Vi their most glaring weakness, an inconsistency that dogged them throughout the year, proved to be their undoing. This fatal flaw was easily observed in full effect in the group stage, as Na`Vi were able to take a series win over eventual champions Wings, but fell flat in most of the other series, resulting in a 6-8 score sending them to the lower bracket. Continuing their streak of bad bracket draws, they met an ailing Team Liquid and were again eliminated in last place, echoing the failings of TI5.



The question that had to be asked immediately was: what went wrong? One thing that springs into mind when going back to watch those matches was the one-dimensional way Na`Vi approached the game. At it’s core, it was still the philosophy that ArtStyle had established for the team all the way back in 2010 on DTS. Win the lanes, accumulate early advantages and snowball them to victory. That was however far from the revolutionary way of play it was back when Na`Vi first unleashed it onto Dota 2 in Cologne.



In an age where deathballing and teamfighting have become commonplace strategies in the wheelhouses of various teams, Na`Vi’s approach was remarkably standard and therefore easily seen through by their opponents. More crushingly for Na`Vi fans was that Na`Vi never seemed to have a plan B should their approach prove ineffective, instead the squad looked lost and out of place when the early game did not go into their favor. Perhaps Na`Vi had much more elementary things to focus on during their slow path of recovery throughout the year, so that they never were able to develop a different strategic approach, but given enough time that might just be possible considering the growth (or revival) Na`Vi had gone through this past season.



The management and players initially seemed to share that sentiment as they announced that they would be sticking together in order to prepare for the next Major, banking on the signs of stability that had returned to the team since they had finalized its roster. As events played out, however, Na`Vi started off the season with yet another failed qualification for a Major and amidst much drama the team has basically disbanded with only Dendi and General ready to forge ahead once more under the black and yellow banner.

The Final Curtain? Na`Vi has been the first team to truly define an era in Dota 2, and still inspires to this day an amount of fans that is entirely out of scale of their current competitiveness. Na`Vi’s influence extends far beyond the period of their peak. Not only has the CIS region always retained its fascination with the original playstyle Na`Vi had developed in 2011, when they were at their most dominant, but Na`Vi has also truly defined what it means to be on top of the dota world and how hard it actually is.



In Dota history, 2010-2014 will always be remembered as the time during which a single team, while not always the undisputed best, was always a contender for the championship, regardless of what tournament they entered. The Black and Yellow also remains until today the most known active Dota 2 organisation owed to it’s unmatched legacy of having been at the absolute top of the world for 3 years straight. For now, Na`Vi remains the only team to have established a dynasty during their peak with an astonishingly stable roster.



Even during Na`Vi’s long decline starting in 2014 there had always been glimmers of hope that Dendi & Co. might just start to stage a comeback, but they had also always been cut short be it at TI5 or in the most recent 16th place at TI6. Maybe the time has finally come to let the giant rest, perhaps there is no breath left to resuscitate this most venerated name in Dota history.



For now it seems like Dendi is still hungry for a return to the top, still willing for one more chance although by now he is the last remnant of the juggernaut that had so easily dominated the scene for such a long period. Regardless of what happens, Na`Vi; it’s rosters, it’s triumphs and it’s defeat; will never be forgotten, as they are a large part of what makes Dota such a great game.



But maybe, just maybe, we are also ready to put faith in Dendi one last time, that one day he might lift the aegis of champions yet again. Time will tell...

Danil “Dendi” Ishutin

Oleksandr “XBOCT” Dashkevych

Clement “Puppey” Ivanov

Gleb “Funn1k” Lipatnikov

Ivan “ArtStyle” Antonov

Dmitriy “LighTofHeaveN” Kupriyanov

Kuro “KuroKy” Salehi Takhasomi

Sergey “ARS-ART” Revin

Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev

Ivan “VANSKOR” Skorokhod

Dmitry "Ditya Ra” Minenkov

Victor “GeneRaL” Nigrini

Artur “Goblak” Kostenko

Evgeniy “Sh4doweh” Alekseev

Artem “fng” Barshak

Nikola “LeBronDota” Popovic

Andrew “PSM” Dunaev

Ilnur “Kudes” Khafizov

Dmitry “Ax.Mo” Morozov

Alexander “DkPhobos” Kucheria Natus Vincere. Born to Win. A simple yet bold statement fitting for one of the most legendary franchises in Dota 2 history. In stark contrast to the current scene, the beginning of Dota 2 had a clear king and he was wearing the famed Black and Yellow of the Ukrainian-based organisation.Artstyle, Puppey, Dendi, XBOCT and LighTofHeaveN — the TI-winning squad from 2011 — would go on to be undisputed rulers of the early scene and their lasting influence on playstyle and mentality can be seen in the entire CIS-region. While the current roster’s future is still in the air, I invite you all to join me in reliving the past glories and bitter defeats of the first team to have taken home the Aegis and put their stamp on a whole era. By now, we are all used to packed stadiums, multi-million dollar prizepools and standing at the pinnacle of esports. As such, it is easy to forget the roots of the game we love, the genesis of Dota 2. Back in 2011, the DotA scene hardly resembled what we know today. With the western tournament scene in decline, it was a dark time for the region’s professional players. Even the west’s best cowered to the Chinese Juggernaut that loomed menacingly over the few interregional tournaments of the era. The Chinese scene was superior in infrastructure, organisation and growth, and thus had the competitive edge.The formation of Na`Vi’s Dota 2 squad in 2011 sparked a new hope in a potential superteam. Not only did it include 3 of DTS-Gaming’s best, a roster counted among the few that could compete with the Chinese, it was captained by Puppey from the renowned KingSurf.International squad and rounded out by rising star XBOCT from the original 2010 Na`Vi team. Right from the beginning, the new Na`Vi made a huge splash as MYM, Nirvana.int and GG.net all suffered defeat at the hands of the new boys on the block. Their newfound dominance came at a fortuitous time, directly preceding the announcement of the biggest esports event in DotA history.A new era was heralded wIth the announcement of The International and the grand unveiling of Dota 2, which breathed new life into the competitive scene. The western tournament scene had largely petered out, and their hopes rested on the success of this new game and the competition Valve had promised. In contrast, the scant two-week period between the announcement of the tournament and the commencement of play was a tumultuous time for the Chinese wedge of the DotA sphere. The scene was hesitant to switch to a new game on a buggy engine with countless issues. While the prospect of The International certainly enticed them, the eastern overlords were not yet ready to give up their attachment to the WarCraft III Custom Map they had become accustomed to.Regardless of these issues, the very first Dota 2 tournament would be the most important one for quite a while. Not only did we have a record-breaking prizepool, but it was also the stage of a long-awaited East vs. West showdown. Coming into the very first TI, Na`Vi took on the role of the dark horse of the tournament. While they were certainly creating waves, they had only 2 months to gel before Cologne. As the games would go on to show, those 2 months would be plenty for ArtStyle to whip his squad into a cohesive unit as they almost went undefeated in their championship run.What exactly was the secret to their winning formula?From the get go, ArtStyle’s drafts focused heavily on winning lanes and scoring pick-offs while also being capable of holding their own in teamfights. One could even say that TI 2011’s Na`Vi were the pioneers of snowballing Dota in a time in which the meta seemingly favored safe and stable play, holding out until the stereotypical agility carry had “finished farming”. While Na`Vi’s preference for tanky strength cores on their farming 1 was not exclusive to them, they only fell back on the “classical agility” carries twice during the entire tournament, both times in the finals. Enabled by the strong teamfighting provided by their usual AA, Chen, or Tidehunter picks, ArtStyle developed a lethal early to midgame timing window for Na`Vi to abuse, often taking towers at an astonishing speed after won teamfights.This gameplan relied on crisp execution and almost hivemind-like coordination between the players. This Na`Vi squad proved to be more than able to fit the vision of their captain because the players on the team were among the best individually, and their collective hero pool was wide and often interchangeable, allowing for a variety of drafts. One also has to take into account that each team only had 4 bans, making it a lot harder to draft against TI 2011’s Na`Vi. Opposing captains could take out some components of ArtStyle’s plan, but he would always have a backup ready, ex: Viper mid when Dendi’s Ancient Apparition was denied, or Enigma as a jungler to replace Chen.The fluidity of the team’s drafts and play made the CIS squad into the nightmare incarnate, haunting their competition at Cologne, sweeping series against the vast majority of the field. There was one team in Cologne, however, that managed to make Na`Vi look mortal. EHOME, the masters of the East, were the only ones to actually take a game off Na`Vi during The International.In the first game of the series, EHOME managed to stifle ArtStyle’s timing through superior initiation and farming efficiency; they had clearly come prepared for it. They simply outlasted Na`Vi in fights, whittling them down until superior scaling allowed EHOME to take the fight back towards Na`Vi’s base and take the win in a hard-fought game 1. Adapting to the unexpected loss, Na`Vi decided to turn it one gear down in game 2, picking a Spectre to give them the necessary punch should it go to the late game and slowing down the pace of their pushes.Na`Vi were rewarded with a 2-1 lead in the series (including the 1-0 advantage of the Winner’s Bracket), and again fell back on the Spectre contingency plan in what would prove to be the final game of Cologne. Na`Vi had done it; they had taken down the Chinese overlords. With superior versatility in their hero pool and their strategies, they had rightfully taken their place on the throne as world champions.Following their triumph in Cologne, Na`Vi had to deal with a surprise blow to their strength. The very man who led them to the victory that cemented their position at the top of the world had left the team amidst controversy regarding prizepool cuts. Some fans immediately began to doubt the longevity of the team as their captain had played such an important role, but these concerns were promptly silenced when Na`Vi crushed through all opposition at Electronic Sports World Cup 2011 to take home yet another trophy. Standing in for them was Smile (or ARS-ART) a legend himself from the Virtus.pro squad that dominated versions 6.43-6.48; he quickly transitioned into a permanent member to fill in the void left by ArtStyle.With that single LAN victory, Na`Vi began their golden days in a tournament scene that was admittedly still in its infancy. The International had brought in the world’s attention but the infrastructure for today’s esports circuit still had yet to be built up. There was always a single question at each and every one of the premier tournaments: Can anyone stop Na`Vi?The answer to that was a clear and resounding no.Na`Vi went through the majority of the 2012 season undefeated on LAN and rightly feared by everyone online. As the year passed into summer however, a new challenger arose in the western scene. Mortal Teamwork, led by syndereN, did what had been deemed impossible by many when his team took down Na`Vi on LAN at Dreamhack Summer 2012. The Kings had been humbled just before TI would have its second iteration in Seattle. Suddenly it seemed that Na`Vi would have to relinquish their stranglehold on the western scene.While Na`Vi continued to collect gold medals in the coming months, the last premier tournament before TI2 saw Na`Vi bombing out of The Defense Season 2. Having looked untouchable for the majority of the season, the giant had been wounded at an event that seemed to foreshadow a capitulation during their title defense. Most shockingly of all, the defeat came at the hands of a western team amidst a scene that had been considered Na`Vi’s backyard.Enter Seattle—the second iteration of The International arrived in 2012. The defending champions had been shaky towards the tail end of the season and new challengers were out for their blood. The beginning of the tournament did not bode well for Na`Vi’s ambition to defend their title; when they started off with an abysmal 2-5 record during the first day of groupstage matches, all hope for a seed into the winner’s bracket seemed lost. Just as people began to count them out, Na`Vi rallied , shook off their early jitters and clawed their way back to the upper half, finishing the groups on an astonishing 8-6 result.While their rebound from their early defeats was promising, the defending champions were in dire straits as the Chinese had come to Seattle to take the title they regarded as rightfully theirs. iG and LGD led the charge from the East, having dominated their respective groups . Against all odds, however, it was the ailing Na`Vi that many had disregarded as slumping beforehand that managed to make it through to the semifinals, dispatching BurNIng’s DK along the way. While teams like mTw, CLG and CompLexity failed to stave off the Chinese onslaught, Na`Vi stood strong. And as the second day came to pass there was only a single western team left standing in Benaroya hall: Natus Vincere. Suddenly, TI2 had turned into Na`Vi vs. the East. Na`Vi met this challenge head on with their customary style in one of the most legendary teamfights in Dota 2 History: The Play.Defeating what had seemed to be an unstoppable blade that had pierced through the majority of the western teams already, Na`Vi managed to utterly destroy the notorious Naga Siren/Dark Seer/Tidehunter ultimate combination in in a single moment etched into memory for all of us. I remember it well, my absolute disbelief as I watched it unfolding live. The game had been hanging in the balance the entire time, with a single teamfight likely to determine the outcome. My eyes glazed over as the morning hours had come and gone, and my eyelids peeled back to witness Na`Vi all caught in the sleep. I was ready to accept that this TI would become an all-Chinese affair, but halfway towards burying my head in desperation, my feelings of impending doom abated and turned into utter disbelief. And then, uncontainable joy.Sleep-deprived as I was, I did not even see Zhou’s crucial mistake in positioning that proved to be so fatal. All I saw was 5 dead heroes from iG with barely a scratch on any of Na`Vi’s. It took everything I had left to contain my desire to jump up, join Benaroya Hall in screaming “Na`Vi” from the top of my lungs and wake each and every neighbor. It was in that moment that I truly understood what “Na`Vi Magic” was all about, and the moment I decided never to count Na`Vi out regardless of the odds. To this day “The Play” remains one of my favorite moments of Dota 2 and I am sure many of you feel the same way.iG lost the game and the series and looked mentally crushed as well, while the CIS-squad went out to bathe in the deafening chants of the crowd.With this knockout blow to what had been one of the most star-studded Chinese rosters in history, Na`Vi once again looked like the unstoppable force that had rolled over Cologne. This made the Winner’s Bracket Finals a match everyone was dying to see. Na`Vi vs LGD, the rugged but revitalised champions, that had defeated what should have been invincible, against the squad that, under the leadership of The Director xiao8, was immaculate so far at Seattle. LGD was 18-0 in games and never looked like they had any trouble with the various other challengers. This was the matchup everyone had asked for.After the first game, LGD seemed to be in the driver’s seat, increasing their streak to 19-0. But then, Na`Vi struck back, grinding down the Chinese in the following two games for a 2-1 victory. The European hope had made the impossible happen yet again: they had reached consecutive finals of The International. Well worthy of carrying the title of defending champions, Na`Vi had shown strength and fortitude and returned to championship form just in time for another spectacular performance.What had looked like a picture-perfect, fairy-tale ending was cut short however as iG rebounded for the final day and managed to beat Na`Vi convincingly, abusing their experience of having suffered such a humiliating defeat before. Nevertheless, Na`Vi’s performance had left little doubt that the kings were far from relinquishing their throne. Even a loss on the grandest of stages just cemented them as the best team over the entire 2011-2012 period, especially as iG quickly found itself hounded by the now dreaded “TI Champion’s curse” shortly after their triumph.In the aftermath of TI2, Na`Vi seemed to be remarkably stable. They continued to expand their collection of trophies by adding ESWC 2012 and another Starladder to their name. A freak elimination by EG during Dreamhack Winter 2012, coupled with a trio of new challengers in the European scene (Empire, Fnatic.EU, and noTidehunter) strained the nimbus of Na`Vi’s dominance. Eventually the team decided that they needed changes and in February 2013 long-time member LighTofHeaveN left alongside Smile, who were replaced by Funn1k and KuroKy respectively, forming the roster that would go unchanged until after TI4.Nobody doubted the raw skill that the new additions brought to the table. KuroKy had a wealth of experience and Funn1k’s impact elevated Empire to a serious contender in the European region. Even with these new additions, Na`Vi still had to struggle to keep their grasp on top of the scene. Nevertheless, their gold medal at RaidCall EMS One showed the strength of their new roster as they went almost undefeated through the entire bracket, mauling the European opposition that had thought them vulnerable. Still, the black and yellow was no longer considered that far removed from the rest of the pack, since they had lost the consistency that had helped them claim title after title throughout 2011-2012.As the road towards TI3 started to heat up, Na`Vi went for an unprecedented experiment: bootcamping in China in preparation for the upcoming clash in Seattle. While there, they also participated in the Alienware Cup, matching up against the best of the Chinese scene—oddly reminiscent of their TI2 experience. Following a terrible groupstage record of 1-7, Na`Vi went on to slay Chinese giants one after another in series play to take home the entire tournament.The Dota world was baffled; barely a month before TI, a single western team had humiliated the Chinese scene before their home crowd. Gone was the slight sneer of Na`Vi “resting on old laurels”, back was the fear of the “Na`Vi LAN Magic” .Returning to Europe, the boys in yellow made short work of their opponents in the RaidCall Dota 2 League Season 3 and in The Defense Season 4, reclaiming their position as top dog just in time for Seattle.Coming into TI3, Na`Vi certainly had all the world’s attention, fresh from earning a shiny new batch of gold medals. They were one of the favorites to dominate, and dominate they did, starting off their campaign with a superb 11-3 performance in the group stage. They were only outdone by Alliance’s 14-0 in the other group, mirroring the clinic LGD and iG had put on the year prior. Once the main event started however, Na`Vi looked mortal, especially in comparison to Alliance, who racked up their streak to 17-0 before finally dropping a map to Burning’s DK.Na`Vi’s struggles began in the first series against Orange, who were on the first steps of their own miraculous run that would end in 3rd place. While shaken by the stiff resistance, Na`Vi rallied and took them down to advance into the Winner’s Semis against TongFu, who would prove to be the strongest Chinese team at that year’s TI. The first clash between these two proved to be all too easy for Dendi’s Pudge as he racked up hook after hook, gutting and devouring his opponents. Yet TongFu recovered and retaliated with a quick game 2 victory and brought Na`Vi to the edge in the decider.With the early game lost and their tickets to the lower bracket all but punched, Na`Vi dug deep and pulled out their trusted magic to fend off their confident opponents. Fountain hook after fountain hook hit, in an impressive showing of what true team fight coordination means, until finally the balance was tipped back into their favor, Na`Vi had staged a miraculous comeback and shown that they meant business this time around..Having dispatched of the eastern challengers, the Winner’s Bracket Finals was THE match everyone had been waiting for since the groups concluded. The flawless Alliance, Kings of the North, against Na`Vi, ever-present magician at TI with the confidence of champions.. For all the hype that went into the match however, the first clash between these two did not live up to the expectations whatsoever. Crushed in 2 games just under 30 minutes, Na`Vi looked inferior in every way and were sent reeling into the lower bracket to face a rematch with Orange Esports.The Malaysians had had one of the most impressive Lower Bracket runs in TI history as they eliminated all the remaining chinese teams. It all came down to the deciding game 3 in their second shot at Na`Vi. Taking the early lead, Orange looked on the verge of making it through to the Grand Finals when tragically, a single misclick threw them off balance as kYxY accidentally denied the aegis that would have enabled them to breach Na`Vi’s base. Sniffing blood in the water, Na`Vi pounced and exploited the sudden weakness on Orange and took them down for a right to challenge Alliance again.Despite all the struggles in the individual games, Na`Vi had done it again, they were in the Grand Finals of The International for the third time in a row, a feat that is unparalleled even to this day. Not one team had managed to achieve a repeat appearance on the grandest of stages and Na`Vi had done it thrice. It truly marked the highpoint of Na`Vi’s Dota squad and serves as the defining feat why the 2010-2014 years have rightly been dubbed the era of Na`Vi.The Finals of TI3 are until today still hailed as one of the best series ever played in Dota 2 and that is more than rightfully so. Writing anything about the finals without doing a full recap, examining each and every stratagem and play these two Titans threw at each other, would not do this series any justice. If there are still fans out there that somehow have not seen the full series, drop whatever it is you are doing now and go rewatch it right now This exciting series also marked the starting point of “El Classico” the continued clashes between Na`Vi and Alliance in the coming season, delivering some of the most memorable moments in Dota 2.In the wake of TI3, it looked like Na`Vi’s time of dominance that had been so stable throughout the years would never end. They even found some belated revenge against Alliance in their numerous meetings in finals of the tournament circuit as they took the Swedes down to win Starladder Season 7 and WePlay Season 2 just a couple of months after Seattle.But the competition never sleeps and new challengers arose, particularly in the western regions. EU and NA upstarts began to make names for themselves; Speed Gaming with EternalEnvy and aui_2000, and the reformed EG around Fear and the new talents of ppd and Arteezy. As the challengers matured and gathered more experience, Na`Vi’s grip on the scene seemed to loosen, often looking like they had trouble to keep up with the times.The reasons for Na`Vi’s troubles were unfortunately as numerous as they were diverse. With an ever changing metagame, Na`Vi’s style of hard and loose Dota began to lose it’s efficiency. The introduction of major gameplay changes such as Rosh respawn timers, and reworked buybacks dealt a crippling blow to the team’s favored “DAVAI”-Dota, but those changes only underscored deeper problems within the team. Na`Vi had been so consistently dominant because they had also been experts at adjusting their play to the ever changing balance and metagame, why should it have been any different this time around?Having achieved the pinnacle of the scene with 3 straight TI Grand Finals the weight of expectations had risen to a staggering amount. Expectations of their organisation, their fans, and most importantly their own made it difficult for the team to work out its problems in adapting to the evolving game. Instead, Na`Vi’s team cohesion started to show cracks. We will never know the entire story of what happened behind closed doors but it is quite obvious that the internal issues and differing opinions within the team tore it apart as they found themselves in a sudden and unusual drought of successes.Nevertheless, many still had hopes in the “Na`Vi TI Magic” as Na`Vi entered TI4 looking not much like a contender. They had always shown up on the biggest stage, surely this time would be no different.Key Arena hosted the showdown of The International 2014. While there was no need to prove themselves, it was the chance for Na`Vi to set the record straight, to show the world that regardless their form going into Seattle, the magical Na`Vi would always show up whenever the stakes were the highest. With the baggage of their lackluster form throughout the season, however, there were no fireworks to be shot. TI4 was a thoroughly average tournament for the yellow-clad legends as they barely made it through groups to play in Key Arena and were promptly and ignominiously eliminated in their first match 1-2 against Cloud9.In more than one sense, it was just a continuation of their declining play since the latter half of 2014. The old Na`Vi spark of genius, the carefree attitude, and the will to persevere against all odds, once trademarks of Na`Vi, all were gone from the team. Meekly ushered out of the competition at 7th-8th, there was no spectacle to be seen, instead the final official match of one of the most accomplished teams relying on the Na`Vi keystones of Dendi, XBOCT and Puppey quietly went under.It had become clear that things were not working out anymore, the old glue that had kept them together for such a long and dominant time had vanished. While it came as a shock to the Dota2 world, it had been long in the making; Na`Vi’s roster would go separate ways. Puppey and KuroKy left to form Team Secret, and Funn1k, XBOCT, and Dendi were left behind with the task of picking up the pieces of what had once been nigh invincible.The Na`Vi that had dominated the competition throughout 2010-2014 had faded into the pages of history.The void left behind Puppey and KuroKy’s departure could not have been larger (and that is not only because of Puppey’s height). For the majority of Na`Vi’s “Golden Era” it had been Puppey at the reins, and as it turned out, replacing the captain of a ship amidst the turmoil of a raging sea was much easier said than done. They first tried to bring in relative newcomers to the scene VANSKOR and fng but after just a couple of months with middling results and seemingly no signs of improvement fng was cut again.While fng had not been able to instantly “make Na`Vi great again”, under his captainship Na`Vi had looked set on a direction even if it took a while to get them there. Even more frustrating not only for him but also for fans was the timing of the roster change, just after they had finally won a LAN again. Unfortunately for the CIS team, fng’s exit did not help at all. Na`Vi tried out an old and grizzled veteran in Goblak next for the peculiar position of captain; the most important issue seemed to be that it was difficult for the veterans of so many LANs to listen to a “rookie”.What Goblak had over fng in terms of age and authority he however lacked in terms of game plan and individual ability, and his short stint in the yellow reflected these shortcomings. With Funn1k deciding to call it quits, even if only temporarily, Na`Vi’s revolving roster and lack of signs of improvement began to invite hilarity within a competitive scene that had once revered the team and the organization.Finally in April 2015 ,with only months to go until Seattle, Na`Vi settled down on it’s roster: now consisting of XBOCT, Dendi, Funn1k, Sonneiko and the return of ArtStyle to his most hallowed domain. As an invite was out of the question with the ramshackle state Na`Vi was in, their focus was all on the qualifiers, and it was surprising how well everything suddenly clicked in comparison to the state Na`Vi had been in before. That the team managed to emerge out of the European Qualifier at a time when few had given Na`Vi any chances of making it to TI5 evoked hopes that perhaps with their winning captain back from Cologne, the Na`Vi claim to the aegis was not dead just yet.While expectations had consistently been lowered over the course of the year, seeing Na`Vi crumble in Seattle was the final confirmation that the black and yellow had faded; not even a throwback to their championship halcyon days in the form of ArtStyle’s captaincy could help them bridge the gap they had suffered in regards to the elite Their failures were owed to a year with unstable rosters, ever-changing game plans and what we can only imagine as utmost frustration as nothing seemed to work at all.A dispirited group stage performance was followed by a straight loss in the first round, eliminating the former champions with a record of 3-12 in last place. Na`Vi’s myth and source of fame, being the magicians of The International, was truly dead and buried. Not even the most diehard fans could now confidently say that Na`Vi was still among the elite.In fiction, there often comes the point at which the protagonist is at his absolute worst, where everything unravels at the seams and he is unable to regain control. Post-TI5 Na`Vi had reached exactly that point. Even the hope they had put into ArtStyle proved to be misplaced as the legendary captain was dropped from the roster in the aftermath of Seattle.With Valve introducing the Majors to the Dota tournament scene, there was a clear path back to the top, a glimmer of hope to return to the echelon of the elite in which Na`Vi had endeavored for so long. Trying their luck first with PSM as captain, Na`Vi attempted to just soldier on despite all the problems they had faced, putting their faith into a future in which things would work out again.The lowest point on their trajectory was still to come however as the squad failed to qualify to any LAN during PSM’s captaincy including the ever important Frankfurt Major.Not unsurprisingly ,desperate times called for desperate measures, and Na`Vi decided to release the entire squad with the exception of the face of Dota, Dendi, and Sonneiko, a rising star support that had proven himself to be capable of filling the gaps left behind by Puppey and KuroKy’s play all the way back. Gone was XBOCT who had been with Na`Vi from the very beginning. Quite clearly, there would be no turning back now.The following rebuilding process was slow and steady, instead of the previous season’s desperate attempts at quick bandaids for immediate results and a resulting lack of patience. In the end, the new Na`Vi that emerged was a very different one from the dominant one of their glory days. Taking the entirety of 4 months (including another failed attempt at qualification for the Shanghai Major) the team finally settled on Ditya Ra, Dendi, General, Sonneiko and ArtStyle as captain yet again. The patience was rewarded handsomely as this iteration of Na`Vi showed off more cohesion and promise than the countless others since the 2014 roster had gone their separate ways.Na`Vi not only managed to qualify for LANs, which already was a huge step of improvement, they also achieved high finishes, a thing that would have been dismissed as fanfiction just prior. Rewarded by Valve via a direct invite to the last Major of the season, murmurs began to be heard that Na`Vi might actually be back on track. Although their result at Manila was middle-of-the-pack, that could easily be dismissed by the fact that they ran into eventual finalists OG and Team Liquid early on.Hope began to stir once more, especially as we reached the pinnacle of Na`Vi’s pre-TI form at Starladder i-League Season 2 with a LAN victory after almost 2 years without a single gold medal to their name. Inevitably, with TI6 now rapidly approaching, the whispers were heard again:Na`Vi was back for their rightful place in a TI Grand Final…For a change since TI4 that ended the “Golden Era” of Na`Vi, this year’s world championships saw Na`Vi entering at an upward trajectory. They had steadily improved throughout the year, taking their time and building up a solid foundation before they had attempted another leap towards the top. The payoff had already been great so far, but would it hold up in Seattle?Unfortunately for Na`Vi their most glaring weakness, an inconsistency that dogged them throughout the year, proved to be their undoing. This fatal flaw was easily observed in full effect in the group stage, as Na`Vi were able to take a series win over eventual champions Wings, but fell flat in most of the other series, resulting in a 6-8 score sending them to the lower bracket. Continuing their streak of bad bracket draws, they met an ailing Team Liquid and were again eliminated in last place, echoing the failings of TI5.The question that had to be asked immediately was: what went wrong? One thing that springs into mind when going back to watch those matches was the one-dimensional way Na`Vi approached the game. At it’s core, it was still the philosophy that ArtStyle had established for the team all the way back in 2010 on DTS. Win the lanes, accumulate early advantages and snowball them to victory. That was however far from the revolutionary way of play it was back when Na`Vi first unleashed it onto Dota 2 in Cologne.In an age where deathballing and teamfighting have become commonplace strategies in the wheelhouses of various teams, Na`Vi’s approach was remarkably standard and therefore easily seen through by their opponents. More crushingly for Na`Vi fans was that Na`Vi never seemed to have a plan B should their approach prove ineffective, instead the squad looked lost and out of place when the early game did not go into their favor. Perhaps Na`Vi had much more elementary things to focus on during their slow path of recovery throughout the year, so that they never were able to develop a different strategic approach, but given enough time that might just be possible considering the growth (or revival) Na`Vi had gone through this past season.The management and players initially seemed to share that sentiment as they announced that they would be sticking together in order to prepare for the next Major, banking on the signs of stability that had returned to the team since they had finalized its roster. As events played out, however, Na`Vi started off the season with yet another failed qualification for a Major and amidst much drama the team has basically disbanded with only Dendi and General ready to forge ahead once more under the black and yellow banner.Na`Vi has been the first team to truly define an era in Dota 2, and still inspires to this day an amount of fans that is entirely out of scale of their current competitiveness. Na`Vi’s influence extends far beyond the period of their peak. Not only has the CIS region always retained its fascination with the original playstyle Na`Vi had developed in 2011, when they were at their most dominant, but Na`Vi has also truly defined what it means to be on top of the dota world and how hard it actually is.In Dota history, 2010-2014 will always be remembered as the time during which a single team, while not always the undisputed best, was always a contender for the championship, regardless of what tournament they entered. The Black and Yellow also remains until today the most known active Dota 2 organisation owed to it’s unmatched legacy of having been at the absolute top of the world for 3 years straight. For now, Na`Vi remains the only team to have established a dynasty during their peak with an astonishingly stable roster.Even during Na`Vi’s long decline starting in 2014 there had always been glimmers of hope that Dendi & Co. might just start to stage a comeback, but they had also always been cut short be it at TI5 or in the most recent 16th place at TI6. Maybe the time has finally come to let the giant rest, perhaps there is no breath left to resuscitate this most venerated name in Dota history.For now it seems like Dendi is still hungry for a return to the top, still willing for one more chance although by now he is the last remnant of the juggernaut that had so easily dominated the scene for such a long period. Regardless of what happens, Na`Vi; it’s rosters, it’s triumphs and it’s defeat; will never be forgotten, as they are a large part of what makes Dota such a great game.But maybe, just maybe, we are also ready to put faith in Dendi one last time, that one day he might lift the aegis of champions yet again. Time will tell... Writer ShiaoPi

Editors Yamato, Lichter, Julmust

Pictures Valve Writer @TW_ShiaoPi