Na`Vi may make its first CS:GO roster change in 18 months.
The Ukrainian organization is close to signing Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov, Winstrike’s captain, according to a report from Luis Mira at HLTV.
If the deal completes, Boombl4 would replace Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev, a veteran who has represented Na`Vi since 2013, apart from a four-month stint with Astana Dragons. He won big tournaments such as IEM San Jose in November 2016, ESL One New York in October 2016, and, more recently, StarSeries i-League Season Seven last April.
The roster change comes after Na`Vi’s lackluster performance at ESL Pro League season nine. They didn’t qualify for the finals of that tournament after losing to Heroic in the third round of the European stage.
Boombl4 made his name after his stint with Quantum Bellator Fire, who advanced to the quarterfinals of the ELEAGUE Major in January 2018, despite being heavy underdogs coming from the CIS Minor.
He has represented Winstrike since June 2018 and has been the team’s in-game leader since last September. If Na`Vi is willing to replace Edward, Danylo “Zeus” Teslenko will probably remain as the team captain.
But if Na`Vi doesn’t perform any better, they might make another roster change. The team shouldn’t underperform, however, while playing with Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and Denis “electronic” Sharipov since they are the best CS:GO duo at the moment.
Na`Vi will have more than one month to prepare for their next tournament at ESL One Cologne in July.
