While NAVI’s VALORANT roster announcement has been evidently spoiled by a Global Contract Database update, the organization should still be pleased to reunite an EMEA roster with a championship pedigree after a year apart.
NAVI has signed entry/duelist Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks to a two-year deal through 2025, according to the GCD, reuniting him with his former FunPlus Phoenix teammates after he spent the first year of the VCT partnership era in the Americas with NRG. An official team announcement is likely pending.
Ardiis returns to EMEA and to the familiar roster core of ANGE1, Suygetsu, Shao, and Zyppan. Together, the five players emerged as one of the best teams in EMEA and internationally during the 2022 VCT season, finishing top two at both EMEA Challengers stages, claiming a trophy at Masters Copenhagen, and finishing top four at Champions 2022.
After Ardiis left for NRG, the former FPX core filled the gap with a former world champion in cNed as they moved to NAVI. But both NRG and NAVI fell short of their championship expectations in 2023, failing to claim a domestic trophy or a Masters trophy before both were eliminated from Champions 2023 in the group stage. NRG, in the meantime, is considering a massive roster overhaul amidst Ardiis’ departure, with both FNS and s0m leaving the active roster as well.
Ardiis expressed a bit of frustration during his time with NRG last year, in particular with regard to the team experimenting with him on Killjoy, which he told Dot Esports he wasn’t brought in to do. The start of the VCT 2024 season is still months away, and currently, NAVI are not listed as participating in any upcoming offseason events.
