NAVI Junior's promotion to the main squad comes follows their qualification to the Esports World Cup 2025 and The International 2025.
Iconic Ukrainian esports organisation 
Natus Vincere (NAVI) has officially promoted its academy roster, 
NAVI Junior, to serve as its main Dota 2 squad starting in July. The main squad will play its final tournament, PGL Wallachia Season 5, before disbanding and making way for the NAVI Junior roster.
“We have made the decision to disband our current Dota 2 roster. The team's last tournament under the NAVI banner will be PGL Wallachia Season 5, which will take place from June 21 to 29. Afterwards, the players will become free agents open to new offers,” NAVI announced on its social media platforms.
The move follows a series of standout performances, with NAVI Junior qualifying for two of the biggest events in the Dota 2 calendar. They first secured a spot in the Esports World Cup 2025's Dota 2 tournament before qualifying for The International (TI) 2025, this year's iteration of Dota 2's annual world championship tournament. Their qualification runs included multiple upsets–taking down prominent organisations like 
OG, 
MOUZ, 
AVULUS, and 
Nigma Galaxy.
What makes NAVI Junior's achievement even more remarkable is that the team earned their place through the competitive Western European (WEU) qualifiers while competing as the youngest team at both tournaments.
Their qualification for TI 2025 also places their 16-year old mid laner, 
Artem “Niku” Bachkur, as the second-youngest player ever to reach TI just behind 
Syed Sumail “SumaiL” Hassan, who made his debut at TI 2015. Adding to the narrative, NAVI Junior's qualification marks the end of a four-year absence from TI for the organisation that won the first-ever Dota 2 world championship tournament in 2011, with their last TI appearance dating back to 2019.
NAVI Junior’s steady rise in 2025
The NAVI Junior division was established in 2022 by the TI 2011-winning organisation. But of the original lineup, only carry player Taras “gotthejuice” Linnikov, offlaner Yurii “pma” Prots, and position 5 support Stanislav “Riddys” Mitroshkyn remain on the roster today. The youngest member, Niku, joined the squad in September 2023 at just 14-years old. Rounding out the current lineup is veteran position 4 player 
Bakyt “Zayac” Emilzhanov, who stepped in as team captain last December shortly after departing NAVI’s main roster.
The team’s early 2025 season was marked by a string of qualifier runs, where they frequently fell just short. However, their momentum shifted after securing a spot at their first Tier 1 event: PGL Wallachia Season 4. There, NAVI Junior impressed with a Top 8 finish in their debut showing, and soon after, they qualified for two landmark tournaments–the EWC 2025's Dota 2 tournament and TI 2025.
Their steady progress stands in stark contrast to the struggles faced by NAVI’s main roster this season. Despite boasting a lineup of notable names–including Artem “Yuragi” Golubiev, 
Philipp “Copy” Bühler, 
Miroslav “BOOM” Bičan, 
Matthew “Ari” Walker, and Oleh “Kaori” Medvedok–the team failed to deliver consistent results.
The team repeatedly fell short in the EEU qualifiers, managing to qualify only for PGL Wallachia Season 3, where they finished in a disappointing 9th–11th place.
Given the difference in form and results, it is no surprise to see NAVI bring forth its academy roster to take over as their primary Dota 2 squad.
One last stop for NAVI’s new main squad
NAVI Junior will officially take over as the main NAVI roster starting 1 July. The window in time is due to the current lineup being locked in to compete at PGL Wallachia Season 5, running from 21 to 29 June. NAVI is one of the 16 directly-invited teams to the million-dollar tournament.
After the conclusion of Wallachia Season 5, NAVI’s current roster will disband, making way for NAVI Junior ahead of a crucial time in the competitive season. The academy roster will represent the organisation at the EWC 2025's Dota 2 competition from 8 to 19 July and TI 2025 from 4 to 14 September.
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