NAVI heads Down Under in big CoD return right before $1 million Warzone tourney

Ukrainian organization Natus Vincere is making a sudden return to competitive Call of Duty after nearly three years away from the esport—but they aren’t fielding an international squad based in Europe. Instead, they’re picking up an Aussie trio who will enter this year’s million-dollar Esports World Cup Warzone tournament with plenty of momentum.

The Aussie trio of Zepa, Lymax, and Levi will fly the NAVI flag for the Warzone event in July following an announcement from the org on June 22. The trio came together for the World Series of Warzone North American final, flying to Canada to practice in the lead-up to the big qualifier. Thanks to their fourth-placed finish—including a win in game two and a massive 54 kills—the squad booked their tickets to the WSOW Global Finals. As well as this, they’ll be off to Riyadh via an EWC invite—and they’ll pull on the iconic black-and-yellow and rep the storied organization in the process.

Zepa said he was in shock when NAVI reached out to him and the squad after the qualifiers wrapped up, saying to Dot Esports he looked up to the org ever since he began playing CoD competitively. “They are the one organization I would represent more than any other in the world, so I hope we can do them proud,” he said.

NAVI made a brief appearance in CoD Mobile in 2021, picking up international squad Team Anarchy for the CoD Mobile World Championship. The team bowed out of the Western finals in seventh place and departed the Ukrainian org after the tournament concluded. Zepa is hoping he and his team’s performance at the Esports World Cup will sprout into something permanent with the org. “Never did I think NAVI would be interested in CoD again, but here we are with an opportunity, and we are going to make the most of it,” he said.

Zepa and Levi teamed up with fellow Aussie Teenie in the 2023 edition of the WSOW finals, running 30th. Lymax, in the meantime, found greater success alongside Breadman and joeWo, finishing sixth and netting a cool $24,000. This year’s Warzone tournament at the Esports World Cup clocks in just shy of a million dollars, with players and teams from across the globe converging on the Saudi Arabian capital.

The Esports World Cup covers multiple disciplines and kicks off in July, with the Warzone competition set to start on July 3. Further details surrounding the date and location of the World Series of Warzone 2024 Global Finals have yet to be revealed.