Na`Vi was the first team to win The International Dota 2 Championships, 2011, held at Cologne, Germany, walking away with a $1,000,000 prize. The team also managed to get through to three International Grand Finals consecutively, a feat unique to them.
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The team is responisible for some of the most memorable moments over the eSport’s short history. However, their fortune seems to have run out. The current team – Dendi, XBOCT, Funn1k, SoNNeikO and PSM – posted disappointing results at the International this year, and they followed that by failing to qualify for the Frankfurt Majors. This lead to Na’Vi deciding to let them go.
Igor Sydorenko, Na’Vi COO, writes the following in the official announcement:
“After the protracted series of failures of our team, we have to take measures and with hard feelings fully disband the squad. On behalf of all the fans and Na`Vi staff I express gratitude to the guys for their work and emotions, which they’ve granted to us all the time. However, sooner or later, the time of old heroes passes. The fate gives us new challenges, which we need to accept and prove that Na`Vi is a team of champions.”
But that won’t be it for Na’Vi in Dota 2. In the next week or so Na’Vi plan to make a few big announcements and to “strike back”. Expect to see some “familiar faces” return to the scene. We will update if we find out more.