In mid-September, Egor «flamie» Vasiliev, who played for NAVI for six years, was granted free agent status. In the near future he will take part in the preparation of NAVI Junior for the second season of the WePlay Academy League, but in the future he will look for other opportunities to continue his career.
During his time with Natus Vincere, the cyber athlete was twice in the list of the top twenty players of the year, twice won the MVP title and took part in half a dozen major tournaments. Together with his team, he was at number one in the world rankings for 27 weeks. Since April, Valery «B1T» Vakhovsky has taken flamie's place on a permanent basis, after which Natus Vincere won four major tournaments.
NAVI Operations Director Alexey «xaoc» Kucherov explained that the decision to release flamie from contractual obligations was due to the good results shown by its current roster, as well as the peculiarities of RMR tournament rules. Since they have penalties for substitutions, a roster with a substitute player becomes unprofitable. Kucherov also noted that while Egor can be called a NAVI veteran, he remains a young, motivated experienced and incredibly accurate player, so he will easily find a spot on an ambitious professional team.