“It’s time to rethink everything”: NAVI players react to their elimination from the IEM Cologne Major
Natus Vincere players took to social media to comment on the team’s elimination from the IEM Cologne Major 2026.
Natus Vincere captain Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen stated that after such a defeat, there is much to rethink:
I’m incredibly disappointed that I’ve failed twice to lead our team to victory here in Cologne. Our run at the Major ended before the playoffs, and now it’s time to rethink everything. Thank you to everyone who supported us this season.
For his part, Drin “makazze” Shakiri apologized for the team’s poor performance at the event:
I’m really sorry for this terrible performance at the tournament. It’s very hard to play every match in a 4v5 format :/ — please forgive me, the team, and everyone who supported us.
Mikhail “iM” Ivan said that Natus Vincere didn’t deserve to compete for the title:
We didn’t deserve it this time. Thank you for your support; see you next season.
Valery “b1t” Vakhovsky noted that Natus Vincere’s elimination from the IEM Cologne Major 2026 was entirely to be expected:
Unfortunately, we weren’t able to make it to the Cologne playoffs. It’s very sad. I’d been looking forward to the Cologne Major for a long time, but given the way we played, this outcome was to be expected. We need to get better. See you later.
The team’s sniper, Igor “w0nderful” Zhdanov, responded briefly:
Sorry, guys.
Earlier, Natus Vincere was eliminated from the IEM Cologne Major 2026 after losing to G2 Esports 1–2 in maps. On Dust2, the “Born to Win” team took the lead and closed out the map 13–11, but lost on Inferno in overtime (14–16) and on Mirage (10–13).
Photo by Sophie Barrowclough, BLAST.
