After a disappointing series of events, NAVI has made Dota 2 history by becoming the first organization to suffer consecutive relegations from the first division of the Eastern European Dota Pro Circuit.
After getting relegated during the first tour, NAVI sponsored a new team in hopes of remaining in the premier division, but unfortunately, the new squad also failed to make the cut, leading to yet another demotion.
According to CyberSport, the organization commented regarding the situation on Telegram, jokingly asking the fans whether anyone was selling a slot in division one for the third tour. Despite taking the relegation in a lighthearted way, NAVI, as an organization, was in the crossfire of its peers shortly after their last game in the DPC.
Upon landing the final blow on NAVI, Virtus.pro’s CEO, Nikolai Petrossian, stated that his team had accomplished a mission against “those who had unfairly taken a slot in Division 1.”
Yaroslav Vladimirovich “NS” Kuznetsov, a former professional Dota 2 player from the EEU region, also commented on NAVI’s most recent relegation, claiming that it may not be a massive setback for the organization as it may have lost its interest in Dota 2.
Considering NAVI has a franchise Counter-Strike player, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyljev, its dying interest in Dota 2 could be justified. Despite signing big-time players like Alexey “Solo” Berezin in recent years, NAVI’s Dota 2 division hasn’t had a star player since the early 2010s.
During the early days of competitive Dota 2, NAVI was the team to beat as they had won the first ever The International and continued a dominating spree in the following years. With a secondary relegation now, the organization might consider pulling out from Dota 2 since the odds of them finding a division one slot one more time will be extremely low.
