Opinion: How slow and steady lost NAVI the race

NAVI are living proof that stagnation is as dangerous as rapid evolution.

While continuity can be an asset, there comes a point where it becomes saturated. Spending every day playing with the same four teammates, where what once was endearing has become grating - both in and out of the server - is enough to make anyone feel a bit worn out with the whole situation. That’s not even talking about the fact that other teams have improved, while NAVI have stood still.

They have barely moved in the rankings for a while because their core roster was simply that good. Not every move is a positive one, and even the ones that are aren’t always enough to move the needle, and so NAVI have sat pretty in the top 10 even while things have plateaued.

Now though, things seem to have hit a fork in the road, and this whole season looks set to be wasted. NAVI are not going to win anything, and by the looks of things could well fall off into that sort of tier 2 ‘soup’ of teams that is really hard to get out of. Importantly, it becomes much harder to convince top tier talent to join.

frozen has been courted by NAVI for a while now, it’s essentially an open secret, and he would certainly have improved them.

They were also talking with Jimpphat as a replacement for b1t, were he to head to Falcons.

Losing b1t would be a monumental blow; for me, he is not only the best anchor player in the world, but possibly a top 5 most mechanically gifted player in the world. I think he’s third, but I’ve been told that’s a ridiculous opinion.

But if NAVI are to sink down into mid-ranking mediocrity, those sort of market opportunities simply won’t exist for them. Why would frozen, right now, leave FaZe for NAVI, bar some sort of cranial injury that impacts his critical thinking? Why would b1t stay if Falcons came calling again?

One thing Vitality have done very well is that they’ve always made changes when they’re on top. They won the Major and swapped dupreeh for flameZ because he was available. It had its teething problems, and needed ropz’ and mezii’s signings to truly unlock greatness, but Vitality could get those players because they were elite when they became available.

NAVI spent a year trying to sign players but getting nothing done, presumably as they were waiting for the b1t money to come rolling in, but it’s left them stagnant, tired and stale, and now with much less pull.

So where has it all gone wrong?

The headline here is essentially that their stars don’t do as much as you’d like them to.

I like makazze, and there was a period at the start of this year where he reliably would get 19-22 kills seemingly every map and that would be enough for NAVI to win, and I still think he’s a very good player. What he isn’t, is a superstar level player.

NAVI’s ‘superstar’ is in a support role, which is a similar issue to what G2 have, and what PARIVISION had. Their best players are role players to platform superstars, and they don’t have the superstars to platform. It’s all well and good having the best defensive midfielder in the world, but if you’ve got Jadon Sancho and Pedro Neto on the flanks, you’re not going to win any trophies.

That’s likely why they wanted someone like frozen, who even though he plays some odd roles, he can carry games. He’d basically take iM’s roles on the T side which is such a massive upgrade, instantly, but his CT roles are scattered all over. He shares a few with makazze, ramp with b1t, banana with Aleksib… it’s a weird fit on the defence, but if anyone can figure it out, it’s B1ad3.

Now, and this is a longshot, but if he does become available and somehow NAVI can stretch to it, KSCERATO shares a lot of roles with iM. You want a superstar who can carry games, an upgrade on iM, someone who can be a voice in mid-round, and a good fit? KSCERATO is exactly that.

Why he would go to NAVI, I have no idea. But that’s the ideal move.

w0nderful is very hit and miss, but I would persevere. He’s good on stage, capable of being an elite AWPer and there’s very few who rank higher than him consistently. Finding an AWPer both better on average and on stage than him is very difficult, and the few that are are out of reach.

NAVI’s issues are that they’ve now waited too long and things have gone stale. They needed to make the changes six, twelve months ago, and now are left desperate and everyone can sense it. They’ve missed out on the player they really want, and now elite players are likely to give them the cold shoulder if they come calling.

Their stars have been great cogs in a machine, but the lack of a genuine carry has left them behind in an era dominated by firepower-heavy juggernauts, so while we love how B1ad3 and Aleksib have been able to find solutions these last few years without trading talent, sometimes you do just need an injection of talent.