After the team’s march to the IEM Rio Major quarterfinals earlier this month, Natus Vincere changed its CS:GO roster. Andrii “nipl” Kukharskyi, a member of the academy team, has been elevated by the organization to a backup role on the first team.

The change is made in advance of the BLAST Premier Fall Final, a competition that permits teams to substitute players midway through a best-of-three series, and it occurs amid rumors that Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev, NAVI’s longtime stand-in, may leave the team before the end of the year or the beginning of 2023.

It’s critical for NAVI to make a decision regarding the future of the roster as soon as possible so that the team can compete for championships like they did in 2021 when they won IEM Katowice, IEM Cologne, and, most notably, the PGL Stockholm Major, according to the team’s superstar and best player in the world, s1mple.

In a press conference at the BLAST Premier Fall Final, according to HLTV, s1mple stated, “I think the company and team need to finally decide with what lineup we want to remain in 2023.” “Since the conflict began, there have been no boot camps, only intense training, and we have also dismissed players… I believe all we need is some time to figure out what roster we should move with in the future.

The Ukrainian AWPer stated that NAVI expects to go “as deep as possible” in the $425,000 event known as the BLAST Premier Fall Final, which will be hosted in Copenhagen, Denmark. The decision to recruit nipl was taken to test how the young player will do during practices, according to the AWPer.

Tomorrow at 9 AM CT, NAVI will play Fluxo in the opening round. Additionally present are Heroic, Team Liquid, FaZe Clan, G2, Ninjas in Pyjamas, and OG.