Natus Vincere, which means "born to win" in Latin, is a Ukrainian video game competition group based in Kyiv. It is often called by its short name, NAVI, which was previously known as Na`Vi. The group was started in 2009 and has teams that play many different video games, including Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, FIFA, Brawl Stars, World of Tanks, Paladins, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Clash of Clans, Apex Legends, Rainbow Six Siege, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, Fortnite, VALORANT, and League of Legends. The NAVI VALORANT team is part of the VCT EMEA. Their Mobile Legends: Bang Bang team is a franchised team in the MPL Indonesia, and their League of Legends team is a franchised team in the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC).
Counter-Strikedivision
In October 2009, Murat "Arbalet" Zhumashevich announced the start of an esports organization during the Intel Extreme Masters tournament in Dubai. He would fund the organization and provide a training space for players, while starix, a professional Counter-Strike player, would help select the team members.
On December 17, 2009, the team Natus Vincere, then known as Arbalet UA, was formed. The team was based on its Counter-Strike squad, which included players Ivan "Edward" Sukharev, Yegor "markeloff" Markelov, Sergey "starix" Ischuk, Arsenij "ceh9" Trunozhenko, and Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko. ZeroGravity was the team’s manager.
The abbreviation Na'Vi was inspired by the movie Avatar. The full name of the team was chosen by fans in a competition.
After a weak performance at the Arbalet Cup CIS 2010 (finishing in 4th place), markeloff, the team’s top player, decided not to compete in the ASUS Winter 2010 tournament so the team could prepare for the Arbalet Cup and Ukrainian qualifications for the ESWC.
In early May 2010, Na'Vi finished 2nd at the Arbalet Cup Europe 2010 in Stockholm, losing to Fnatic in the finals. They earned $10,000 in prize money.
Na'Vi won the ESWC Ukraine tournament. In the final stage of the ESWC, the team had the highest seeding, along with SK Gaming, Fnatic, and mTw.dk.
On July 4, 2010, Natus Vincere won the ESWC, defeating SK Gaming in the finals with scores of 16:5 (de_train) and 16:4 (de_inferno). This victory made Na'Vi the first team from the CIS region to win the ESWC.
During the tournament, Na'Vi advanced through the group stage by chance but lost to Fnatic and mTw.dk in the playoffs.
After winning the world championship, Na'Vi announced they would compete in two more tournaments: Arbalet Cup Dallas and GameGune 2010 (Bilbao). On July 18, 2010, Na'Vi won Arbalet Cup Dallas, defeating Mousesports in the final with scores of 19:15 (de_dust2) and 16:12 (de_inferno).
After earning $25,000, Na'Vi became the European team with the most prize money won in 2010.
Na'Vi finished 3rd at GameGune 2010 and Intel Extreme Masters Shanghai.
On August 15, 2010, Na'Vi won the Ukrainian qualifications for the 2010 World Cyber Games and received a paid ticket to the finals in Los Angeles, which took place from September 30 to October 3, 2010.
The next tournament for Na'Vi was ASUS Summer 2010, where they received a direct invitation. This event was the first in the ASUS Open series, held at Kyiv CyberSport Arena. In the semifinals, Na'Vi lost to the Kazakh team k23 and finished 3rd.
On October 4, 2010, Natus Vincere won the World Cyber Games, defeating the Danish team mTw.dk in the finals. This victory made Na'Vi the first team to hold three major championship titles at the same time: IEM, ESWC, and WCG.
At the end of October 2010, ESL TV commentator Bakr "KinGSaicx" Fadl reported that SK Gaming might invite Na'Vi to replace its Swedish squad. However, the manager of Natus Vincere denied this information.
In early November 2010, Na'Vi participated in the World e-Sports Masters (WEM 2010), held in Hangzhou, China. Among eight teams, Na'Vi finished 4th and earned $7,500.
From November 25 to 27, 2010, the largest LAN party in the world, DreamHack Winter 2010, took place in Jönköping, Sweden. To attend, Na'Vi skipped the Russian tournament ASUS Autumn 2010 because of scheduling conflicts. After winning their group stage, Na'Vi defeated teams puta, Fnatic, Frag Executors, and mTw.dk in the playoffs, winning the tournament.
During the playoffs, the Ukrainian team lost only once to Fnatic on the map de_mirage. Sergey "Starix" Ischuk was named the tournament’s MVP.
After winning DreamHack Winter 2010, Na'Vi set a new record for earning $220,000 in one year. This surpassed the previous record held by Fnatic, who earned $189,000 in 2009.
In 2010, HLTV.org ranked the top 20 Counter-Strike players. Yegor "markeloff" Markelov was 1st, Sergey "Starix" Ischuk was 4th, Ioann "Edward" Sukharev was 5th, and Daniil "Zeus" Teslenko, Na'Vi’s captain, was 19th and named "Best Captain of the Year."
On March 5, 2011, Na'Vi won the Intel Extreme Masters in Hannover, defeating Frag Executors from Poland in the finals with scores of 16:12 (de_train) and 16:10 (de_dust2). They earned $35,000, but $4,550 was taken as a penalty for breaking tournament rules.
Na'Vi reached the finals of DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015 but lost 0–2 to Team EnVyUs. In 2016, Na'Vi won the Intel Extreme Masters Season X – San Jose, defeating Team Liquid.
In 2016, Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev joined Na'Vi. Later, he became one of the most skilled players in the world.
In 2021, Na'Vi won their first CS:GO Major, PGL Stockholm 2021, defeating G2 Esports 2–0. They also won the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2021 and BLAST Premier World Final 2021.
Na'Vi worked with Hator, a company that makes gaming equipment, to organize esports events in 22 Ukrainian cities.
They qualified for the Blast Spring Final and reached the playoffs of IEM Katowice 2022.
On March 1, 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Na'Vi ended its partnership with ESForce, a Russian esports company, stating that ESForce "publicly denies
Dotadivision
In October 2010, a new Defence of the Ancients (DotA) team was formed, including some of the best Ukrainian players. The team originally had five members: Aleksandr "XBOCT" Dashkevych, Artur "Goblak" Kostenko, Bogdan "Axypa" Boychuk, Oleksandr "Deff" Stepaniuc, and Andriy "Mag~" Chipenko. In December 2010, Mag~ and Deff left the team. The empty spots were filled by Danil "Dendi" Ishutin and Ivan "Artstyle" Antonov from DTS.Chatrix, with Artstyle becoming the team captain.
On 17 June 2011, Goblak and Axypa were replaced by Clement "Puppey" Ivanov and Dmitriy "LighTofHeaveN" Kupriyanov. In August 2011, Na'Vi was invited to The International, the first annual Dota 2 tournament. The event had 16 teams from around the world and offered $1,600,000 in prizes. Na'Vi won the tournament, defeating the Chinese team EHOME 3–1 in the final and earning $1,000,000.
On 13 October 2011, shortly after their victory, Artstyle left the team. Puppey became the new captain, and Sergey "ARS-ART" Revin from the Russian team Moscow Five joined as the fifth player.
In 2012, Na'Vi had a successful season, winning multiple tournaments, including four consecutive seasons of Star Ladder's Star Series, a top competition in the CIS region. At The International 2012, Na'Vi tried to win again but finished second, losing to the Chinese team Invictus Gaming 1–3 in the final.
In February 2013, ARS-ART was replaced by Gleb "Funn1k" Lipatnikov from Team Empire. Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi from Mousesports also joined, while LighTofHeaveN became inactive. In April 2013, LighTofHeaveN officially left for Team Empire. In June 2013, Na'Vi announced an all-female team.
The first half of 2013 was challenging for Na'Vi as they struggled in major tournaments with their new lineup. Their first major win came in April when they defeated RoX.KIS at the ESL Major Series One. In July, they beat LGD Gaming.cn 3–2 in the grand finals of the Alienware Cup, becoming one of the few Western teams to win a major Chinese tournament.
In August 2013, Na'Vi reached the Grand Finals of The International 2013 but lost 2–3 to the Swedish team Alliance in a close fifth game.
In July 2014, Na'Vi was eliminated in the lower bracket of The International by Cloud9, finishing in 7th–8th place and earning $519,208. This was the first time Na'Vi did not reach the Grand Finals of The International. Many fans believed the team struggled to adapt to changes. Soon after, KuroKy and Puppey left the team.
On 13 February 2015, Gleb "Funn1k" Lipatnikov retired from the Na'Vi Dota 2 team. On 4 March 2015, DkPhobos joined Na'Vi to replace Funn1k. On 9 March 2015, DkPhobos left to rejoin ASUS.Polar. On 25 March 2015, Goblak left, and SoNNeikO took his spot. On 5 April 2015, Na'Vi announced the return of Funn1k and Artstyle, with VANSKOR moving to reserve due to a long-term illness.
On 27 August 2015, Na'Vi announced the departure of captain Ivan "Artstyle" Antonov after a poor performance at The International 2015. On 2 September 2015, Artstyle returned as a substitute, and M.Batbileg "Ra" and Ilnur "Kudes" Khafizov joined the team. On 16 October 2015, Na'Vi announced the disbanding of their main roster.
On 19 October 2015, Na'Vi posted that Danil "Dendi" Ishutin and Akbar "SoNNeikO" Butaev would select the remaining three players for a new team. On 23 February 2016, Na'Vi's new team was finalized, but they lost in the final qualifying round for ESL Manila.
On 3 September 2018, Danil "Dendi" Ishutin said he was looking for a new team, signaling his departure as captain. On 25 March 2021, Na'Vi's Dota 2 team withdrew from the One Esports' Singapore Major tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On 2 September 2021, Na'Vi announced a new roster managed by Artstyle. The team includes Alexey "Solo" Berezin, Ilya "ALOHADANCE" Korobkin, and Victor "GeneRaL" Nigrini. Vladimir "No[o]ne" Minenko and Alik "V-Tune" Vorobei remained on the team.
Results of DPC EEU 2023 Tour 1: Division I: NAVI were relegated to the second division.
Mobile Legends: Bang Bangdivision
On November 4, 2021, the organization announced its participation in Mobile Legends: Bang Bang by signing the CIS team Deus Vult before the M3 World Championship, the largest tournament for the game. The team finished tied for 7th place, losing 2-3 to the Malaysian team TODAK in the lower bracket. The team ended in 2022 after failing to qualify for M4. Most of the players returned to Deus Vult, and the team was later signed by Team Spirit.
On February 8, 2025, NAVI announced its return to Mobile Legends by acquiring Rebellion Esports and their spots in the MLBB Professional League Indonesia (MPL Indonesia) and MLBB Development League Indonesia (MDL Indonesia). On May 14, 2025, NAVI signed two women's teams, one based in Malaysia and one in the Philippines. The Filipino team was previously the Smart Omega Empress roster, which won the Women's Invitational the prior year.
PlayerUnknown's Battlegroundsdivision
On 11 April 2018, the organization announced it had acquired a PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) team. The team included four Russian players: Vadim "POKAMOLODOY" Ulshin, Ivan "Ubah" Kapustin, Dmitry "Shade1" Roshchin, and Svyatoslav "Drainys" Komissarov.
On 19 November 2018, a new PUBG team was officially announced.
In April 2019, after poor performance at the LAN event of the PUBG Europe League in Berlin (where NA’VI finished 14th out of 16 teams in the first phase), the organization decided to replace most of the team. Only Vadim "POKAMOLODOY" Ulshin remained from the previous group, but he no longer served as team captain. Alexander "BatulinS" Batulin, Dmitry "Recrent" Osintsev, and Artem "Sadovnik" Danilyuk were placed on inactive status.
On 1 October 2020, Natus Vincere signed a PUBG Mobile roster, marking their entry into the PUBG Mobile Competitive Esports scene.
On 5 October 2020, the team received an invitation to the Peace Elite Championship, which had a prize pool of $1.7 million.
On 26 October 2020, Na'Vi won the PUBG Mobile EMEA League and qualified for the PUBG Mobile Global Championship.
On 20 November 2022, the Natus Vincere team won the PUBG Global Championship 2022 and earned $1,008,338.
World of Tanksdivision
In July 2013, the Russian-Ukrainian team Red Rush began competing under the name Natus Vincere in the game World of Tanks. In April 2014, the team Na'Vi won the first Wargaming.net League in World of Tanks in Warsaw, Poland. Na'Vi won the same event again in April 2016.
Rainbow Six Siegedivision
Natus Vincere entered the Rainbow Six Siege Pro League by taking over the German team Mock-it E-sports in February 2019. The original Na'Vi Rainbow Six Siege team included Pascal "Cry1NNN" Alouane, Lukas "Korey" Zwingmann, Jan "ripz" Hucke, Niklas "KS" Massierer, and Lasse "Lazzo" Klie. On May 30, 2019, the organization announced that Korey would leave the team, and the rest of the German players were released. Na'Vi planned to announce a new team the next day.
On June 1, 2019, Na'Vi announced they had signed the British team MnM Gaming, which had recently qualified for Pro League Season 10. The team included Ben "CTZN" MacMillan, Jack "Doki" Robertson, Luke "Kendrew" Kendrew, Leon "neLo" Pesić, Szymon "Saves" Kamieniak, and Ellis "GiG" Hindle as coach. On October 11, 2019, Doki was banned by Ubisoft, the game’s developers, for severe toxicity. ESL, the Pro League organizers, supported the ban and required Na'Vi to find a temporary replacement for Doki until April 11, 2020. Four days later, Ellis "Pie" Pyart was named the temporary player. With Pie, Na'Vi qualified for Pro League Season 11 Finals, where they won first place and $100,000.
On December 18, 2019, GiG left the team, and analyst Cyril "jahk" Renoud became the acting coach. This team remained together until after the Six Invitational 2020 in February 2020, when Pie and CTZN both left Na'Vi. On March 13, 2020, Byron "Blurr" Murray was announced as the temporary replacement for Doki. On March 21, Dimitri "Panix" de Longeaux joined the team as a permanent player.
Contribution to the development of esports
Na'Vi's Counter-Strike group was the first in history to win three important tournaments—Intel Extreme Masters, Electronic Sports World Cup, and World Cyber Games 2010—in one year. Their Dota 2 team won The International 2011, becoming the most successful esports team at that time.
In July 2010, Ukraine's Prime Minister, Mykola Azarov, met with the team at the Cabinet of Ministers building in Kyiv. During the meeting, topics about growing the IT industry in Ukraine were discussed. The Prime Minister promised to host the esports International Open Cup of Ukraine in 2011. Ukrainian players joined a group called "Gold Reserve" to receive government support.
In 2024, Na'Vi gave part of their prize money from winning the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, totaling US$125,000, to help fund the use of unmanned ground vehicles in the Ukrainian military during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
NAVI is part of the Esports World Cup Foundation Club Support Program, funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. This program gives teams money for promoting the Esports World Cup in a positive way and increasing interest in the tournament.