On October 31, Natus Vincere made it official by signing Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov, the former AWPer of Sprout. This move was prompted by s1mple’s decision to step down from the team on October 26 in order to take a break from competitive play. Despite w0nderful’s most recent stint with Sprout, he has been recognized as a promising talent ever since his days with Team Spirit between 2022 and 2023. The 18-year-old Ukrainian AWPer has maintained an impressive 1.23 rating this year, according to HLTV, and now he gets his first opportunity to showcase his skills against top-tier teams after spending three months with Sprout.
With the addition of w0nderful, NAVI’s CS2 roster is now complete and ready for their upcoming event, the BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023.
Speaking on NAVI’s official website, w0nderful acknowledged the substantial task of filling s1mple’s shoes but expressed his determination to give it his all, saying, “I’m excited to join such a legendary organization as NAVI. It was my biggest dream ever since I started playing CS. It’s obvious, right? I know that it’s hard to fully replace a player of s1mple’s caliber and fulfill everyone’s expectations, but trust me, I’ll do everything in my power.”
While the duration of s1mple’s break remains uncertain, the fact that NAVI has signed w0nderful on a permanent basis suggests that the newcomer will serve as NAVI’s AWPer for at least several months. Though s1mple hasn’t specified his return date, he has confirmed that he’ll be considering offers from other teams in the interim.
W0nderful will make his debut with NAVI at the $425,000 CS2 tournament BLAST Premier Fall Finals, taking place between November 22 and 26 in Copenhagen, Denmark. This will be NAVI’s second event in the new game and their first with a complete lineup, as coach Andrij “B1ad3” Ghorodensjkyj had to stand in for s1mple at IEM Sydney.