We’re reaching mid-year now, and we are doing so in a very difficult situation. For CSGO fans and players, things are vastly different. After all, now all tournaments are being played online, even the most premier ones.
To make things even more different than usual, we won’t have a Major in the next couple of months. ESL Rio has been postponed to the last quarter of the year, and this changes a lot.
However, in middle of all this, the scene hasn’t stopped at all. Every team is doing their best and running their activities as better as they can. However, one team is catching everyone’s attention.
Na’Vi surprises everyone after a disappointing 2019
2020’s biggest surprise is how Na’Vi was quick to adapt to their new player. Earlier this year, the CIS powerhouse swapped the veteran ‘GuardiaN’ for a newcomer, ‘Perfecto’.
While many expected some slow months of adaptation, s1mple’s team were quick to adjust. The team topped out the leaderboards at their first even they attended with the new player.
To make things even better, the team finished 2nd in the following tournament, and won a very disputed IEM Katowice 2020, which is one of the most prestigious tournaments of the year.
Online struggles
As tournaments, independent of which tier, moved online, teams suffered. Team Liquid, for example, is clearly having a hard time adapting to the new online-only format.
Now, Na’Vi has shown to be a very important and capable team online. The team managed to win six out of ten matches they had in ESL Pro League Season 11 Europe.
While this might seem low to some, they faced fierce competition, and their matches were close. In fact, they only didn’t advance to the regional finals due to round-difference. Otherwise draw with Astralis and Mousesports.
The Future is Promising
Na’Vi future’s is definitely promising. At the moment, there isn’t a single team that can claim to be the best of the best. Na’Vi, however, is holding the 1st place in the world rankings due to their consistency, which will be vital in the following months.
S1mple’s squad has proven to be capable in both online and offline scenarios. This is very important, as the future of many tournaments is unknown. Moreover, there’s clearly some issues going with their current setup.
Having in mind that Natus Vincere is already faring well even with those issues caused by the pandemic, they will only do better from here.
Natus Vincere hasn’t reached their ceiling yet
Again, another key difference of Na’Vi compared to the likes of Astralis is their ceiling. Natus Vincere has the likes of Boombl4, electronic and Perfecto, who are still young players. This means that they still can reach an even higher level.
Other teams, like the aforementioned Astralis, are looking for ways to shake their game. Na’Vi doesn’t need to worry about it, though, as individual training is enough to keep them very close to the top.
Boombl4, who is currently leading the team, is also very new to his role. As he keeps progressing as a player and as a leader, Na’Vi will only get more versatile and dynamic.
What are other teams on the same level as Na’Vi?
Na’Vi biggest opponent right now isn’t the 2nd place team in the world rankings. Instead, it’s Mousesports, ranked 3rd. Mouz has shown to be in very similar conditions to them, besides having a much more experienced leader.
Matches with these two teams have been great, and their rivalry will make both teams grow at a steadily pace. However, for Na’Vi, they also should take notes of FNATIC. The Swedes are doing great at the moment, and are very different from them.
Overall, Natus Vincere is extremely close to other teams that are ranked amongst the best five in the world rankings. G2, for example, would make another very interesting rivalry for them.
2020 is a vastly different year for CSGO
2020 definitely is a strange year. In previous years, by this time we already had clear favorites for teams who would shape the scene.
This time around, due to the combination of tournaments being played online only as well with many teams reaching their full potential, it’s still open season for teams wanting to sit on the throne.
Right now, though, Na’Vi is our favorite candidate. The amount of potential they have shown along with how much they still can progress and grow in the following weeks and months is staggering.
With that said, though, the competitions are still going and much has yet to be seen this year in CSGO. To make sure you are inside everything happening in the CSGO scene, as well as everything esports, make sure to follow us here!
