It’s been a rough few years for Natus Vincere’s Dota 2 squad. There’s no other way to describe it. After cementing its place as the game’s first true dynasty with grand finals finishes in each of the first three Internationals, Ukraine’s finest have struggled to perform under any bright spotlights.

It’s had some ups, sure, nabbing top-four finishes at various LAN tournaments. When it comes to the bigtime shows like the Asia Championships, Epicenter or any Valve-sponsored event, though, the team has laid egg after egg.

This rut hasn’t been a matter of stagnation or lack of talent. The only constant with NaVi over the last few years has been fan-favorite mid player Danil "Dendi" Ishutin and he’s been surrounded with generally strong lineups.

For whatever reason, NaVi just hasn’t seemed to click…until today.

While the 2017-2018 Dota 2 season is still in its infancy, NaVi is positioned to be a serious contender over the coming months. With that in mind, it’s worth taking a look over the team’s recent history, and the changes that may mark a long-awaited turning point.

TI4 and the Years That Followed

After three consecutive top-two finishes at The International, the days of NaVi being a year-in, year-out favorite ended abruptly at TI4, with the fan favorite team notching a comparatively humble eighth-place finish.

For almost any other organization, this would have been great. For the standard bearers of excellence in Dota 2, however, it was unacceptable.

After years as a titan of the scene, NaVi didn’t want to field a “good” Dota 2 team. It wanted to field champions. That necessitated changes, and the burden for NaVi’s shortcomings fell on its in-game leadership and culminated with the release of longtime captain Clement "Puppey" Ivanov, and the departure of Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi.

At face value, it wasn’t necessarily a bad move. When traditional sports teams fail to get over a certain hump for an extended period of time, it is often the on-field leaders that feel the heat for those shortcomings.

Fan reaction, however, was resoundingly negative and there was hand-wringing aplenty when the team struggled to perform after the move. Worse were its outside-the-game troubles, as it featured a revolving door of support players. Those issues in late 2014 lingered deep into 2015 and when TI5 finally came around, NaVi flopped mightily, leaving Seattle with a last-place finish.

With that, Gleb "Funn1k" Lipatnikov and Alexander "XBOCT" Dashkevich departed and left Dendi as the sole survivor of the 2011 to 2014 dynasty. Talent flowed around him in the years that followed, with each experimental roster ultimately failing to find consistent success.

That became even more obvious with the dawn of the the Valve Major era as NaVi either stumbled under the spotlight, or fizzled before reaching it.

Permanent replacements came with time. Akbar "SoNNeikO" Butaev began his on-again-off-again relationship with NaVi in 2015. Victor "GeneRaL" Nigrini eventually joined in 2016. Of course, it takes more than three steady players to put together a high-end team.

Carries and supports joined fast and left faster for NaVi and when the 2017 stopgaps Per Anders Olsson "Pajkatt" Lille and Malthe "Biver" Winther jumped ship after TI7, it felt as though NaVi was set for another rough year.

Needless to say, that hasn’t been the case...

The New NaVi

While it’s still very early, the new NaVi has been quite impressive in competitive play thus far. The opposition hasn’t necessarily been fierce. but along the way it has taken series wins over a slew of CIS staples, including Team Spirit, Vega Squadron and Team Empire.

That’s not necessarily enough to regard NaVi as a world-class organization again, but it’s a marked turnaround from just a few months ago, and one that suggests it will be a regular presence at Major and Minor tournaments going forward.

So how did this happen?

First and foremost, NaVi was quick to secure replacements for the departing Biver and Pajkatt. Vladimir "RodjER" Nikogosyan joins after a strong performance at TI7 with Team Empire and steps into the No. 4 role. Meanwhile, rookie Vladislav "Crystallize" Krystanek is going pro with NaVi after standout performances with Double Dimension.

While some may claim that the new roster is actually a downgrade from the previous squad, there are a few other changes that could be difference-makers.

Former carry player XBOCT returned to the fold as a coach following two less-than-stellar years as a CIS journeyman. While he was often forgotten behind the Dendi-Puppey duo during the NaVi heyday, there are few players with more experience than him. Couple that with the expanded role of coaches this season and it’s likely that NaVi will have a stronger draft phase than it has in years.

Finally, the captain position has once again fallen to supports with the departure of former in-game shot-caller Pajkatt. SoNNeikO, currently playing No. 5, retakes that role for the first time since 2016, giving the team a more traditional hierarchy.

Whether it was any one of those factors or a combination of them, these changes have already begun paying dividends...and could continue doing so over the coming months.

The Present and Immediate Future

September has been chock full of qualifier action and NaVi has looked quite formidable throughout.

To this point, they have successfully qualified for two Minor tournaments; StarLadder i-League Invitational 3 and PGL Open Bucharest. Additionally, they took third-fourth place in the CIS qualifiers for ESL One Hamburg. While that didn’t get them into the season’s first Major event, it was still a respectable showing that saw them win two series, and hand Virtus Pro its only loss.

Though once again nothing is guaranteed, there is cause to be bullish on NaVi’s future.

Legitimately challenging VP, a team that was widely regarded as a favorite to win TI7, is no small feat and suggests they could be strong contender over the coming months. Couple that with the new invite format for TI8--which offers big opportunities for above-average teams from below-average regions--and they’re strongly positioned to make a push for an invite for next year’s International.

Of course, consistency is key. The qualifiers for the latest Pit League are already upon them, followed by the actual tournaments, which will inevitably be followed by even more qualifiers. Dota 2’s black and yellow will need to continue competing at a high level to prove they’re not just on a hot streak.

They seem to be up to the task, though, and given their immense popularity, that’s good news for fans and tournament organizers alike.

Photo credit : Daniel Najarian, @missing_data