Denis “electroNic” Sharipov has officially become the new captain of Natus Vincere, the CS:GO team’s best player Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev said today during a press conference at BLAST Premier Spring Final in Lisbon, Portugal.
The organization’s COO Alexey “xaoc” Kucherov had already told Dexerto on May 31 that moving electroNic to in-game leader was a strong possibility, and now, that move has been officialized, at least for the time being. NAVI parted ways with its former captain Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov on May 28 following the conclusion of the PGL Antwerp Major due to “high reputational risks.” The decision was not made based on game-related aspects.
ElectroNic has been playing for NAVI since he joined from FlipSid3 Tactics in November 2017 and played an important role in many of the organization’s titles, including the PGL Stockholm Major in November 2021 and ESL One Cologne in July 2018. He has never been a dedicated in-game leader throughout his career and it remains to be seen if he can maintain his fragging capability while calling strats for the team.
NAVI will play their first event without Boombl4 at the BLAST Premier Spring Final, a $425,000 tournament that will run from June 15 to 19. The organization has acquired Ukrainian rifler Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev, also known as somedieyoung, from MAD Lions on loan exclusively for the Spring Final. There’s a chance NAVI will keep him for more tournaments, but that will be decided based on his performance during the week.
NAVI have been placed in Group B of the BLAST Premier Spring Final alongside ENCE, BIG, and OG. The CIS powerhouse will face the latter in the opening round tomorrow at 10am CT.
