Natus Vincere has always stood as a legacy organization in Apex Legends from the start of the game, but the org left the scene in 2023 after failing to qualify for LAN. One year later, NAVI returns to the battle royale with the signing of one EMEA’s hottest teams in the Pro League.
NAVI announced their return to ALGS today on their official website and social media accounts with the signing of free agent team Orgless and Hungry, formerly known as Vexed Gaming. Joining the organization is IGL Matej “MaTaFe” Fekonja, Tyler Wood, and Pedro “KIND4” Maldonado Vega.
NAVI made their first commitment to Apex Legends on April 2019, two months after the global release, and have consistently fielded competitive rosters since the ALGS 2019 Preseason where the org debuted in EMEA with a second place finish. NAVI was seen as one of the most consistent domestic orgs, but dropped its last roster after Split One of the 2023 EMEA Pro League where the org failed to qualify for the LAN Playoffs with an 18th place regional finish, and declined to sign another roster for the rest of the competitive season.
Vexed Gaming’s last roster iteration debuted on Oct. 24, 2022, consisting of MaTaFe, Tyler, and Andre “Unlucky” Türk, and was touted as one of EMEA’s most aggressive teams, with multiple members topping the domestic kill and damage leaderboards. However, their willingness to challenge teams off-drop, especially at LAN tournaments, would fail to translate on the global stage, as Vexed’s feast-or-famine playstyle lead to a last place finish in the 2023 Split Two Playoffs.
The failure to perform on the LAN stage would lead to Vexed parting ways with Tyler and KIND4 stepping in as the new third on Oct. 22nd. However, the late-season roster change would fail to bring the team across the line in the Last Chance Qualifier, leading to an end of Vexed’s season, and the last ALGS appearance for the org as Vexed later shut down suddenly on Jan. 19, one week before the start of the 2024 Pro League.
The roster would retain their Pro League spot and rebrand as Orgless and Hungry, surging to the top of the leaderboard with the same exact aggressive playstyle as their past success. They earned consistent top five finishes in all but one of their match days, but suffered a major setback when Alliance announced Yuki’s departure, with Unlucky leaving Orgless and Hungry to join Alliance as their new third. However, MaTaFe and KIND4 wouldn’t be a duo for long, as Tyler quickly returned to his former team for the last weeks of Split One before NAVI signed the roster.
Currently, NAVI sits near the top of the EMEA table in second place with 87 circuit points. The roster will debut underneath their new colors on March 10, the last day of the Split before regional finals. With 27 points between them and the eighth-place cutoff, NAVI is a safe bet to lock in a spot at the upcoming Split One LAN Playoffs, and a warm welcome back to the ALGS.
Published: Mar 6, 2024 03:57 pm