On the foreign CS community forum, a user named Pirat6662001 posted a discussion titled: "The club prize money NAVI lost due to their early exit from EWC is even higher than the buyout fees for most players." After NAVI's 0-2 loss to Legacy knocked them out of the EWC round of 16, he pointed the finger at NAVI's failure to reinforce their roster during this off-season: Is it really more cost-effective to save on transfer fees by keeping the original lineup?
Actually, this NAVI lineup has had its shining moments this year. The team claimed the championships at both EPL S23 and IEM Atlanta, with w0nderful even securing his first HLTV MVP award of his career with a 1.31 rating in Atlanta. At least in terms of their ceiling, this is not a complete loss of a roster that can still compete for titles.
w0nderful secured the first MVP of his career at IEM Atlanta.
However, at the EWC, where the prize pool was more substantial, NAVI failed to deliver on their potential. According to the club standings at the time of the original post, NAVI ranked fourth with 2,650 points, while Vitality ranked third with 2,800 points. The corresponding club prizes for these two positions were $3 million and $4 million, respectively.
NAVI temporarily ranks fourth on the EWC Club Points Leaderboard
Pirat6662001: Look at the current standings. NAVI is currently ranked fourth, but their performance in the CS division has already cost them the chance to overtake Vitality and move up to third place—that's an additional $1 million. Moreover, as other divisions continue, they might even drop to fifth, which also means losing $1 million.
If the CS division had managed to secure even 200 more points, it would have been basically enough to help them lock in fourth place. To save money during the transfer window, the tournament prize money and EWC club bonuses they ultimately lost likely already exceeded the initial cost of acquiring players, not to mention the sponsorship exposure their performance would have brought.
“Performing poorly costs as much as buying a player, possibly even more.”
Interestingly, NAVI had indeed considered roster changes. During the EWC, B1ad3 confirmed in an interview with HLTV that the team had explored options to strengthen its lineup during the off-season and had come very close to finalizing adjustments to its roster.
B1ad3: We almost made a lineup change
B1ad3: We do have some possibilities for roster adjustments and have communicated with different agents. As long as we believe a certain adjustment can make the team stronger in the new season, we are willing to try it.
We had some negotiations, but they ultimately didn't succeed. We were actually very close to making some changes, only to realize in the end that it wasn't feasible. Those were very strong players, and naturally, there were other teams competing with us as well.
However, B1ad3 also expressed that there is value in keeping this roster, which has collaborated for over a year, even after determining that the transaction could not be completed. The tactical systems and competitive experience accumulated through long-term coordination cannot be replicated in a short period. NAVI's ability to secure championships in the past was also one of the outcomes of this long-term collaboration.
Then the question arises: if NAVI really wants to strengthen their roster, who should they replace?
The discussion area soon focused on iM. The reason is quite simple: b1t remains one of the most stable core members of the team; 19-year-old makazze has already secured the EPL S23 MVP; w0nderful just earned his career's first MVP this year; and replacing Aleksib would mean NAVI might need to readjust their entire command and tactical system. Compared to these, iM naturally became the position most frequently up for discussion.
Will iM become the adjustment target for NAVI's next roster change?
Pirat6662001: If you don't consider Russian-speaking regions, FaZe players, and overpriced South American players, I think there are still quite a few options on the market. At least, the players I think are worth trying more than iM include FUT players, HeavyGod, Staehr, and B8's npl—assuming there's no lingering rift between NAVI and npl. There's also Inner Circle's Dawy, who has great potential.
Among them, Staehr is the poster's personal favorite choice, but only if NAVI can resolve the issues of position and role allocation.
This is precisely the biggest problem with the "+iM +aggressive player" approach. After joining the team, makazze took over many of iM's previous positions while assuming more aggressive frontline duties, forcing iM to shift to a more passive playstyle. In other words, what NAVI needs to find is not necessarily a player with a higher Rating, but one who can truly complement the existing roles of makazze and b1t.
Therefore, some have proposed a solution with a distinct "NAVI characteristic": buying back their own youth-trained players.
The former NAVI Junior development lineup, most of whose core players were subsequently signed as a whole by FUT
In the summer of 2025, after NAVI promoted makazze to the main team, they listed the remaining NAVI Junior academy roster for sale as a whole. Subsequently, Krabeni, dem0n, cmtry, dziugss, and coach coolio were signed by FUT. This lineup, built around the NAVI academy core, quickly achieved breakthroughs after being freed from the restrictions of the academy team.
Nowadays, FUT has been consistently competing in top-tier tournaments, and in this year's EWC, they even made it to the quarterfinals. As a result, some players have jokingly discussed on forums that if NAVI had not included any buyback clauses when selling these young talents, it would now be a slightly awkward situation trying to repurchase their own academy players from FUT.
However, the discussion area also features completely opposite views.
Mrgbiss: This all hinges on one premise – whether NAVI can actually sign a player who represents a clear upgrade. Apart from frozen, who has already rejected them and renewed with FaZe, I don't think these players are truly a good fit for NAVI. iM isn't that bad, and these players would also be very expensive right now.
In late 2025, frozen "hinted at" declining NAVI's invitation
This is also NAVI's biggest dilemma right now. Maintaining the status quo means they must believe in the roster's ceiling, which has already been proven at EPL S23 and IEM Atlanta; but if they continue to exit major tournaments early, the so-called "keeping the roster stable to avoid expensive buyouts" may ultimately cost them more in prize money, VRS points, and even commercial value, just as the original poster suggested.
If you were to adjust the current NAVI roster, would you continue to trust this five-person lineup or make a change? If you were to make a change, do you think Staehr, HeavyGod, npl, a young player from FUT, or someone else would be more suitable for the current NAVI?