Zyppan was one of the longest standing members of the NAVI core. Along with ANGE1 and Shao , he was one of the founding members of the original team when they debuted under the FunPlus Phoenix banner all the way back in 2020. Though they were always considered one of the strongest European squads at the time, they were never able to find any major tournament victories early on, falling short in the top four at First Strike and the EU regional Masters 1 in 2021. It was not until 2022, when the additions of ardiis and SUYGETSU launched them to the top as they earned the title of world champions at Masters Copenhagen. They would also place a respectable fourth place at Champions later that year.
Zyppan becomes a world champion at Masters Copenhagen (Photo by Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games).
Under NAVI however, Zyppan and the rest of the team were unable to reach the same heights. For the whole 2023 season, they sat squarely in the shadow of their regional rivals in Fnatic , who were dominating the scene, both regionally and internationally. With cNed coming in to replace ardiis , the team struggled to find their footing against international competition, with their highest placement being a top four finish early on at LOCK//IN. Although they qualified for the other two tournaments of the year, they would fail to make it out of the group stage at either of them, a sure fall from the success they had achieved the previous year.
In 2024, NAVI hopped to reignite an old flame, bringing back ardiis to re-form the roster that had won Masters Copenhagen. However, the team would drop even further down than they had the year prior. Two defeats at the hands of Team Heretics in Kickoff and Stage 1 knocked them out of contention for both Masters tournaments of the year. After these results, NAVI would make the decision to remove Erik (previously d00mbr0s) as head coach. The long-standing coach of the roster had been a pivotal part of their success, which became evident when in Stage 2, they lost their first four matches, all without winning a single map. They would squeak their way into playoffs, but were eliminated at the hands of the Champions bound Team Vitality .
Zyppan's removal from the active roster marks the end of one of the longest standing cores left in VCT. Zyppan has expressed willingness to move to any region and fill in any role necessary. Any teams looking to pick up the Masters winner will have to pay his buyout from NAVI.
Natus Vincere are now:
- Kyrylo " ANGE1 " Karasov
- Andrey " Shao " Kiprsky
- Dmitry " SUYGETSU " Ilyushin
- Ardis " ardiis " Svarenieks
- Oliwer "LATEKS" Fahlander (Head coach)
- Urszula "Xirreth" Klimczak (Performance coach)
- Berke "Vlad" Kantürk (Analyst)
