After a disappointing run at Champions 2023, Natus Vincere’s VALORANT team might be making some major changes as the VCT offseason begins to take shape.
The team is reportedly dropping superstar duelist Mehmet “cNed” İpek according to an Aug. 25 Blix.gg report from esports journalist Alejandro “anonimotum” Gomis. This will mark the start of a significant retooling for the top 10 team ahead of the new season. NAVI was originally touted as a top contender from Europe, boasting some of the best players from the region like Dmitry “Suygetsu” Ilyushin, Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky, and Pontus “Zyppan” Eek.
Throughout 2023, however, they were never able to break into the upper echelon of the competition. A fourth-place finish during the EMEA League, an early elimination from Masters Tokyo, a second-place finish during the EMEA Last Chance Qualifiers, and finally, an abysmal showing at this year’s Champions has left NAVI with no choice.
Meanwhile, the 21-year-old had some great showings despite the lackluster results with his team, including standout numbers during the EMEA League. This year, he had the sixth-highest average combat score and the eighth-highest average damage per round, according to competitive VALORANT stats aggregate VLR.gg.
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The young star might struggle a bit after Riot unveiled massive nerfs to Jett, which many people agree will push her out of the competitive and solo queue meta. Even still, cNed’s fragging ability shouldn’t be underestimated on other agents such as Neon, Raze, and Yoru, and should help him find a new home on another squad soon—if he is getting dropped during the offseason after all.
At this stage, should he be out of the squad, it’s unclear where he will end up. However, with the conclusion of VCT Champions this weekend marking the start of the offseason, we are expecting many teams to begin to shuffle players, possibly opening up a slot for the young Turkish star.
