NA’VI crumbles against Team Heretics in VCT EMEA Kickoff Playoffs

NA’VI crumbles against Team Heretics in VCT EMEA Kickoff Playoffs

Foo Zen-Wen

29 Jan, 2024, 19:49

|

Last updated: 10 Apr, 2025, 11:15

Team Heretics becomes the first EMEA team to qualify for VCT Masters Madrid.

Their series against Natus Vincere (NA’VI) saw the latter crumble in a Bo3 that looked a fairly one-sided affair for the Spanish organization.

Breakout rookie Dominykas "MiniBoo" Lukaševičius was a crucial part of the team’s success, delivering a massive total of 49 kills and 10 First Bloods to close out the series in two.

NA’VI Crumble

Natus Vincere entered the VCT EMEA year as one of the favorites, with the re-addition of Ardis "ardiis" Svarenieks reuniting the old FunPlus Phoenix roster in its entirety. In their path, Team Heretics. The sole remaining roadblock on their path to the first international VALORANT LAN of 2024. Moreover, Heretics had been operating with a substitute and an online player.

Despite an initial strong showing from the NA’VI side on Sunset, they failed to capitalize on their Defense-side produced lead of 8-4, leading to a forced overtime from the side of Heretics that ended with Heretics stealing the win from right under NA’VI.

Heading into Breeze (NA’VI’s map pick), Heretics stormed the beleaguered NA’VI defense to a dizzying 10-2 half. Pick after pick went Heretics way as they closed out the map and series in confident fashion 13-4.

Undefeated

In a shock to many long-time watchers of EMEA, Heretics began their Kickoff journey with more furor than was expected for a team with this many missing pieces. They proceeded to crush their way through Groups with a decisive 4-0 victory, qualifying for Playoffs. Now they have qualified for Madrid in 6 maps, without dropping a single point to their opponents.

Credit: Michal Konkol/Riot Games


Read More:

VCT EMEA 2024 Kickoff

[Updated] VCT Masters Madrid 2024: All Qualified Teams.

Latest news

Esports Foundation Announces the 40 Clubs for 2026 Club Partner Program

Esports Foundation Announces the 40 Clubs for 2026 Club Partner Program

Today, the Esports Foundation (EF) announced the selected 40 esports clubs for the 2026 Club Partner Program. The program, a $20M dollar initiative, provides funding and support for all the selected clubs. Now in its 3rd year, over $100M has been reportedly invested to date.
31 Mar
Foo Zen-Wen

VALORANT Patch 12.06: Updates to Waylay and Viper, New Yoru Voicelines, and More

VALORANT Patch 12.06 may not deliver the biggest of updates to the game, but it's certainly worth taking a look at all the same for a few concrete reasons. From small updates to Waylay (which should result in a slight nerf) and Viper, to new voicelines for Yoru and a long list of bug fixes, the new VALORANT update will continue to drive the game towards its most balanced and polished state.
31 Mar
Martin Arévalo-Östberg

Riot Games Issues Procedural Update on Florescent's SA Allegations

Riot Games has officially released a procedural update regarding the sexual assault allegations made against former Apeks VALORANT player and Game Changers champion Ava "florescent" Eugene, concluding that no violations of its Global Code of Conduct were found.
30 Mar
Kaustavmani Choudhury

The Real Pay Gap: Why a Mid-Tier Streamer Often Out-Earns a Pro Player

Compare esports player salary vs streamer income - real numbers, verified data. CS2, Dota 2, LoL pros vs xQc, Ninja, Faker, Full breakdown
26 Mar
Foo Zen-Wen

Great Britain to be represented at Esports Nations Cup 2026 By UK-Based Collective

Yesterday, the Esports Foundation (EF) awarded National Team Partner status to organizations and individuals across more than 100 countries and territories. The concerted effort was all in preparation for the Esports Nations Cup (ENC) in November, a global nation-based esports competition. UK now joins the growing assembly of countries set to compete later this year in Riyadh.
26 Mar
Foo Zen-Wen

VCT EMEA 2026 Stage 1: Schedule, Tickets, Format, and More

VCT EMEA 2026 Stage 1 runs April 1–May 17, with 12 partnered teams competing for Championship Points and three Masters London qualification slots.
25 Mar
Adarsh J. Kumar

Sentinels VALORANT Officially Introduce Jerrwin Ahead of VCT 2026: Americas Stage 1

Sentinels have finalized their roster for VCT 2026 Americas Stage 1 with the addition of rising NA duelist Jerrwin. As the team moves on from N4RRATE and speculation around TenZ’s return ends, the spotlight now shifts to Jerrwin—who faces his biggest challenge yet stepping into Tier 1 competition.
25 Mar
Ganesh Jadhav

Comments (0)

Log in to comment on this match