British duo eliminate NaVi from BLAST Bounty; Is NaVi on borrowed time?

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 15/01/2026

NaVi suffered a last-place finish at BLAST Bounty Season 1 2026, losing 2-1 to a Monte featuring two British players.

Jack ‘Gizmy’ von Spreckelsen called an excellent series as Monte’s IGL, with fellow Brit Oscar ‘AZUWU’ Bell by his side on the server.

While an online loss is usually no reason to panic, NaVi’s internal dynamics may make the loss an ominous portent of the roster’s 2026 season.

Monte upset NaVi despite stand-in

Those paying attention to Tier 2 would have seen a Monte consistently improving in the second half of 2025.

That improvement culminated in their DreamHack Knockout Stockholm 2025, which earned the roster a place as ESL Pro League Season 23.

Yet the roster was deprived not even a week ago of a significant part of that growth, as Gytis ‘ryu’ Glušauskas joined Astralis.

Aleks ‘Rainwaker’ Petrov was enlisted to stand-in for the roster, providing incredible impact throughout the series, most notably with a Mirage 1v3 that secured Monte map point.

For British fans, the calling of Jack ‘Gizmy’ von Spreckelsen was a point of pride, with the 21-year-old also delivering a strong fraggin performance to close the series on Dust 2.

For NaVi, a scrappy game gave way to collapse in a loss which reflected many of their 2025 weaknesses, not least the lack of coordination in that 1v3.

Yet, it is perhaps the roster’s inability to assert themselves individually, outside of Valerii ‘b1t’ Vakhovskyi, that is most symptomatic of the roster’s firepower deficit.

Are NaVi playing on borrowed time?

NaVi made the Budapest Major 2025 semi-final by defeating the world number 1, Furia, in a display which evoked their best moments of 2024.

The roster tactically dominated the Brazilian lineup, with IGL Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen and coach Andrii ‘B1ad3’ Horodenskyi combining to create the perfect gameplan.

Following a loss to FaZe in the semi-finals, in which NaVi had a significant opportunity to close the series 2-0, it was unclear whether the team was clicking or whether it was the last roll of the dice for the roster.

Yet, one good result cannot paper over a season of struggles, in which NaVi had a clear ceiling. The roster could make the playoffs, but never truly competed for trophies.

The assumption was that NaVi were looking for replacements in the offseason, something corroborated by Vitality IGL Dan ‘apEX’ Madesclaire, who cited NaVi and Mouz as teams who were priced out of changes in the offseason.

The Frenchman stated, “So many teams wanted to make changes, but they couldn’t. The market is crazy. The prices… CS, we don’t make enough money to make those changes. Orgs are crazy with prices.”

NaVi may know they are a roster at a dead end, incapable of pushing beyond their 2025 limits, but forced to stay together.

In that instance, it is not longer the ceiling that is in question, but the floor; not how well they can play, but how badly as motivation crumbles.

While NaVi were able to conjure the emotional reserves to make a spirited push at the Major, the roster is now on borrowed time and that time may prove to be a painful one for NaVi in 2026.

Darragh Harbinson, Senior Editor

Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.

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