NaVi chooses npl over sdy going into the CSGO 2023 season

2 Dec

Ganesh Jadhav

The Ukrainian CSGO organization, Natus Vincere, has announced the departure of Viktor "sdy" Orudzhev. Andrii "npl" Kukharskyi will play as the team's fifth man. NaVi was already practicing with npl at the Blast Premier World Finals. The uncertainty surrounding the team grew after an unfortunate quarterfinal loss at Blast Premier Fall and World finals. B1ad3, in an interview, hinted at the sdy departure earlier this month. With npl on board, Natus Vincere will look to progress toward the #1 spot in CSGO.

Natus Vincere's 2022:

Natus Vincere was the Major champion coming into 2022. After getting their hands on the elusive Major trophy at PGL Major Stockholm, we finally entered the much-awaited NAVI era. After the major win in November 2021, NaVi won Blast Premier Fall and World Finals and was the #1 team coming into 2022. Starting in 2022, they fell to Ninjas in Pyjamas and lost to G2 at IEM Katowice. They lost to the eventual winner Faze Clan at the ESL Pro League S15, placing 5th-8th.

Coming into the PGL Major Antwerp, The team was the favorite to win and strode to the finals without many problems. Navi faced Faze Clan at the Grand Finals and was defeated 2-0, placing 2nd at the Major and losing their #1 spot. The rest of the year was similar for NaVi. The team did win the Blast Premier: Spring Finals 2022, but with Boombl4's departure, the team needed help to find a footing. The team made an early exit at all the premier level event rest of the year. The concerns surrounding the team's performance increased.

Who is npl?

Andrii "npl" Kukharskyi is a young Ukrainian Rifler who started with Navi Junior in December 2021. Being part of the Navi Junior, npl showcased immense talent, and B1ad3 had his eyes on young rifler for a while. After sdy had trouble with the team, the team practiced with npl as the substitute.

Today, Navi Twitter announced the departure of sdy from the team. sdy will now be a F/A. npl will be the second Navi Junior member to be promoted to the main team after b1t last year.

[twitter url="https://twitter.com/natusvincere/status/1608796025698787333"]