Gleb "Funn1k" Lipatnikov has left Natus Vincere after almost two years of collaboration. The Ukrainian offlane player was most notably a part of NaVi's second place finish at TI3. Funn1k has said that the decision was made due to change of priorities. No replacement have been announced by NaVi's management yet.
Funn1k has represented NaVi in 660 matches with a winrate of over 62%. He was brought into the roster two years ago along side with de Kuro "KuroKy" Salehi Takhasomi to replace ru Dmitriy "LighTofHeaveN" Kupriyanov and ru Sergey "ARS-ART" Revin, who left the roster in the lead up to The International 3. During this time he's been known for his Clinkz and Dark Seer play.
After NaVi's longstanding captian Clement "Puppey" Ivanov left the roster with KuroKy last year; the Ukrainian squad have been struggling to maintain their previous form, undergoing a number of roster changes with by Artsiom "fng" Barshack and ua Artur "Goblak" Kostenko interchanging into the team. Although NaVi performed well during the group stage of the Dota Asia Championships they failed to overcome the first round of the main event. However, despite their lacklustre performance, the departure of Funn1k seems to be a personal decision rather than internal issues.
Gleb "Funn1k" Lipatnikov's announcement:
Hello, dear fans. I have a sad news for you today: I’ve decided to leave our friendly family, which took me 2 years ago. This was a tough decision. My priorities have changed by now. I might regret this decision in future. However I want to go my own way and to write a new page in my life.
I am very grateful to the organization, all the guys, with whom I played and spent almost all my time. I experienced many positive emotions and negative too, but there were more positive emotions after all :). I wish much success and good luck to everyone. Once again thanks a lot for the time we spent together. Additionally I want to thank to all the devoted fans, who believed in us even at the hardest times. We appreciate it and we respect that much, remember it. As concerns my further plans, I am going to be inactive for some time and resolve my own problems. Goodbye. See you soon
Both Eugene Erofeev, the General manager of NaVi and Andrew “Kimi” Kvasnevsky, NaVi's DOTA 2 manager expressed their gratitude towards Funn1k and thanked his for his time with the team.
It is still not known whether or not Funn1k will be looking for a new team or taking a break from competitive play. NaVi have also yet to announce a replacement for the Ukranian offlane player.
NaVi roster
Daniil "Dendi" Ishutin
Alexander "XBOCT" Dashkevich
Ivan “Vanskor” Skorohod
Arthur “Goblak” Kostenko
Alexander "XBOCT" Dashkevich
Ivan “Vanskor” Skorohod
Arthur “Goblak” Kostenko
