NAVI Valorant signs Ardiis, Reuniting the Former Valorant Champions

NAVI Valorant has made a genius move bringing Ardiis back into their roster and reuniting the old FPX squad. This also means that cNed is out of the roster.

The Valorant Rostermania for the 2024 Season is going wild as we keep getting news of some superstar migrating to other teams. We recently saw Jacob “Yay” Whiteaker transfer over to the APAC Region and play for Bleed Esports while Erick “Aspas” Santos went over to Leviatán.

That being said, NAVI has added Ardis “Ardiis” Svarenieks to their Valorant roster. This reunites all of the FPX players. Let us break down this transfer and see what is in the future for this roster in the game. Let us dive right into it and analyze everything we know so far.

Contents

• NAVI Valorant Brings Back Ardiis Thus Reuniting the Old FPX Roster
• The History of the Old FPX Core
• Ardiis’s Performance in VCT 2023
• NAVI’s Performance in VCT 2023
• The Future of NAVI Valorant

NAVI Valorant Brings Back Ardiis Thus Reuniting the Old FPX Roster

NAVI is one of the most famous names in Esports no matter what game it is. They have dominated CS and are now looking to make their mark in Valorant. The new VCT Format means they have been selected as a Franchise team. Their initial roster included the FPX core, who we will look at later, in addition to the former World Champion, Mehmet “cNed” İpek.

However, they have switched gears and decided to bring back their old Duelist in the form of Ardiis. He is known as one of EMEA’s greats. This year, Ardiis played for NRG and everyone had high hopes for him along with the former OpTic core which was also in NRG. However, even though things didn’t go that great for either side, he kept his legend status in FPX. Let us take a moment to go back to the past.

The History of the Old FPX Core

FPX’s 2022 journey was a memorable one as they were always in the Top 4 of the Major S-Tier Tournaments. They started their domination by first qualifying for the Masters Reykjavik but could not attend the event due to restrictions.

Incidentally, they made a comeback by winning the Masters: Copenhagen Trophy, beating Paper Rex 3:2. However, they could not win Champions since they were eliminated by DRX in the Lower Brackets. They lost 0:2 and that meant the end of their journey for that year.

Following their loss in Champions 2022, FPX dissolved as an Organization and moved over to China after the announcement of the Franchise League. With the entry of NAVI into the EMEA Franchise, the organization acquired the core of FPX consisting of these players:

• Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov
• Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin
• Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky
• Pontus “Zyppan” Eek

NAVI then built a roster around these players and cNed while Ardiis moved onto NA to join NRG. Things were a little underwhelming after these transfers happened.

Ardiis’s Performance in VCT 2023

Ardiis had a pretty average year in comparison to his usual performances in VCT. In the very first major tournament of the year, he was in a complete flex role, changing from Agents like Jett and Raze to Sage or Kayo. As the year went on, he solidified himself with multiple Agents in his map pool. However, his primary go-to was Jett and Killjoy/ Sage for a Sentinel role.

In Champions, he showcased Chamber for a couple of matches. However, he was not NRG’s top dog. The teamplay ability that the former OpTic core had with Yay and Jimmy “Marved” Nguyen was missing with Ardiis. The season ended for NRG when they lost twice against Bilibili Gaming, a result that no one expected they would see from NA’s finest.

NAVI’s Performance in VCT 2023

NAVI started off the year strong winning against teams like KRU Esports, Team Secret, and Leviatan in their matches at VCT Lock In. However, they went on to lose against a dominant Fnatic who destroyed everyone to win the tournament.

Then started the Regular Season, in which NAVI was dominant. They only lost two of their matches, one was to KOI and the other was to Fnatic. The team almost choked during the last few games and composed themselves. They made it to the Masters and came in 4th in the Regular Season.

The downfall started in VCT Masters Tokyo where NAVI’s first match was against NRG which they lost 1:2. Their hopes rested on the match against EDG. If they lost, they would go home and straight to the EMEA LCQ for a chance at Champions. The worst did happen and NAVI lost to EDG 0:2.

In the EMEA LCQ, NAVI barely qualified, coming in second place besides Giants. The start of Champions was good for the team. They beat Team Liquid 2:0 but then went on to lose to LOUD and DRX, thus ending their 2023 run.

The Future of NAVI Valorant

Since the old FPX squad is now reunited, their roster looks like this:

• Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov
• Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin
• Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky
• Pontus “Zyppan” Eek
• Ardis “Ardiis” Svarenieks

With the former Champions back together, it is bound to be an exciting event for them. cNed, no matter how strong he was, did not fit NAVI’s dynamic well and will be better off in his new team. In terms, of Ardiis, it is a tough season ahead for him due to the overwhelming pressure being exerted by fans and his teammates.

We will see how he performs in the upcoming season as the Rostermania continues to go crazy for VCT 2024 because we have had multiple signings popping up from all over the world.