In a shocking turn of events, several top-tier organizations, including NAVI, were relegated to the second division after the first season of the 2023 Dota Pro Circuit. Amidst the chaos, however, a glimmer of hope may have emerged for NAVI, according to Aleksandr “StrangeR” Solomonov, the head of Dota 2 at Virtus Pro.
StrangeR thinks NAVI could be in the process of officially acquiring PuckChamp, a division-two team that recently advanced to the first league. Given that NAVI’s existing roster needs to play through a season in division two, a switch like this would allow NAVI to retain its name in the first division.
Though neither NAVI nor PuckChamp released any official statements regarding such a move, the two teams have been linked together since the beginning of the 2023 DPC. In October 2022, NAVI allegedly bought out Maxim “shigetsu” Popadinec from Cybercats and sent the player PuckChamp.
The two teams also bootcamped together during the season, and some rumors even claimed that NAVI was sponsoring PuckChamp behind the scenes. If NAVI was already paying for PuckChamp’s major expenses, the move StrangeR suggests could take place well before the second DPC tour begins.
Considering NAVI is also in a rebuilding stage, the organization can also create an all-star team consisting of PuckChamp and members from their existing team to use the former’s newly acquired slot.
While NAVI might have it figured out to remain in division one, the other relegating EEU team, Nemiga Gaming, will need to grind through division two one more time to return to the spotlight.
