NaVi announced a significant change to its Counter-Strike 2 roster and overall organization by moving Drin “makazze” Shaqiri to the main lineup and opening up the Junior team for offers.
The Ukrainian organization NaVi’s CS2 academy team is considered the best and has a high VRS ranking, proving its strength. The roster has a strong win rate and has shown its prowess in multiple events including Thunderpick WC 2025 EU Series 1 and YaLLa Compass Spring 2025.
NaVi has surprised CS2 fans by announcing that it’s looking for offers for their junior roster and wants to sell its academy team. In the same announcement, the Ukrainian organization stated academy star makazze would be moving to the main roster. While the news may not have been something fans wanted to hear, NaVi provided the reasoning behind its decision.
Ukrainian organization NaVi claims that it is selling the Junior roster because Valve is preventing the team from progressing under the NaVi brand, a prohibitive situation brought about by the current CS2 ecosystem.
Valve’s new rules have put NaVi in a tough spot, even after its Junior roster has performed far above expectations. Two teams from the same organization can’t participate in the same tournaments. NaVi Junior has attained the 27th rank in VRS and has earned its place in upcoming prestigious tournaments. But Valve’s limitation has essentially killed the chance of the Junior roster excelling under NaVi’s umbrella, as its main CS2 roster will always be its primary focus. This has led the esports organization to sell the roster.
A successful sale could benefit all parties, with NaVi picking up some additional funding and the junior team able to compete unhindered moving forward. But such an outcome isn’t guaranteed. Natus Vincere stated it’s selling the Junior roster as a package deal. The team’s coach, players, and its VRS ranking are all up for grabs.
NaVi stated that it would retain makazze and move the promising player to its main CS2 main roster. It’s unclear who makazze will replace, but he’s known to play many positions similar to Mihai “iM” Ivan. There’s little doubt about NaVi Junior being one of the best academy teams in the game, and the star team’s VRS ranking could lead to a Major invitation. Makazze’s transfer to the main lineup is a drawback, as he was the team’s powerhouse player.
Previously, there were rumors that Cloud9 was interested in acquiring NaVi Junior, but Cloud9 CEO Jack Etienne has denied those rumors.
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