According to many sources that spoke with Dot Esports, Ukrainian company Natus Vincere has advanced negotiations with FunPlus Phoenix for their VALORANT squad.

The players have not yet signed contracts with the squad, and to make matters more complicated, top player Ardis “ardiis” Svarenieks might not sign on to the roster with his FPX colleagues and coach. While NAVI is still hoping that Ardiis would join the group, he may instead consider his alternatives elsewhere.

NAVI would sign Dmitry “SUYGETSU” Ilyushin, Pontus “Zyppan” Eek, Kyrylo “ANGE1” Karasov, Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky, and head coach Erik “d00mbr0s” Sandgren if the trade is completed without Ardiis.

At the VCT Masters in Copenhagen in July, the FPX roster, one of the greatest in VALORANT, came out on top. To win the championship, the squad defeated Paper Rex in the championship game. However, FPX was unable to build on the success with a victory at Champions, the most awaited competition of the year. In the third round of the lower bracket, FPX was defeated by the Korean team DRX, ending their run. OpTic Gaming defeated LOUD in the championship game after DRX lost against them in the lower final.

One of the very few companies to gain entry into the EMEA international league is NAVI. Kirill “Cloud” Nehozhin and Artur “7ssk7” Kurshin were both added to the inactive list by the Ukrainian organization in advance of the change.