Ukrainian esports organisation Natus Vincere (NAVI) has officially unveiled its VALORANT lineup for the VCT 2026 season.
This includes Polish player Dawid ‘Filu‘ Czarnecki and Turkish duelist Volkan ‘sociablEE‘ Yönal playing alongside the existing trio of Andrei ‘Shao‘ Kiprskii, Emirhan ‘hiro‘ Kat, and Uğur ‘Ruxic‘ Güç.
Filu and sociablEE are no strangers to the VCT EMEA scene. SociablEE previously played for BBL Esports in 2025 season, while Filu will be joining the team after his last stint on KOI, which ended abruptly after Riot Games terminated its partnership agreement with the Spanish organization.
The team will be led by French coach Vincent ‘Happy‘ Schopenhauer and Kyrylo ‘ANGE1‘ Karasov, who has now transitioned into a coaching role following his retirement from competitive play earlier this September. Dmytro ‘Chippy’ Bychenko will serve as assistant coach, continuing in the role after helping the squad throughout 2025.
With the arrival of two new players, NAVI also parted ways with Alex ‘alexiiik‘ Hawlasek, who previously stepped in to replace GianFranco ‘koalanoob‘ Potestio ahead of 2025 VCT EMEA Stage 2.
Ever since joining VCT EMEA, NAVI has struggled to consistently compete with the top teams in the regional league.
After a slow start to the year with a top-six finish in Stage 1, the team found more success in the second split of the season, finishing fourth after losing to GIANTX in the lower bracket semifinal.
Despite the crescendo of results, NAVI was unable to earn enough Championship Points for Champions 2025, marking yet another season without an international appearance since 2023.
The new roster will be making its official debut during Project Blender, an open event featuring amateur, tier-two, and tier-one squads. After that, NAVI will prepare for the start of new season, set to begin with the VCT EMEA Kickoff on January 20th.
