Natus Vincere promote CemaTheSlayer to main Dota2 roster
Natus Vincere have announced they have promoted Semion “CemaTheSlayer” Krivulya from stand-in status to the main roster, after the Ukrainian Dota2 pro has successfully completed his trial period.
CemaTheSlayer has been officially announced as a permanent member of Natus Vincere's Dota2 roster earlier this Thursday, March 20, on their official Twitter page.
The 26-year-old Dota2 veteran joined NaVi on February 2, 2020, to help them compete at ESL One Los Angeles 2020 Major Qualifiers, as a replacement for NaVi's former captain Bakyt "Zayac" Emilzhanov, who notoriously left the team to play for Virtus.pro.
With CemaTheSlayer on the team, Natus Vincere went on to dominate the ESL One Los Angeles 2020 CIS Closed Qualifier, and although they started slow with two stalemates against HellRaisers EXTREMUM, NaVi picked up the pace and defeated Team Spirit and forZe to secure the top seed in their group. Later in the playoffs, Natus Vincere edged past Cyber Legacy and repeated their success against HellRaisers in the upper bracket finals to book the first ticket leading to the LA Major.
Unfortunately, ESL One Los Angeles ended up indefinitely postponed, meaning NaVi and CemaTheSlayer were denied the opportunity to prove themselves at the highest tier of Dota2 competition. Despite the bad news for the team, CemaTheSlayer has shown enough quality for the Ukrainian esports organisation to offer him a permanent spot in the team, where he will continue his illustrious career as a Dota2 pro.
"Glad to welcome Semion. Despite the difficulties that we experienced after Leipzig, he quickly adapted to the team and turned out to be the teammate that the team needed," said Igor "caff" Sydorenko, Natus Vincere manager.
"I am sure that with him we will be able to progress further and achieve our goal this season."
Commenting on the situation was also CemaTheSlayer, who said:
"I want to thank Natus Vincere for the opportunity to show myself. I will do my best to help the team become even more confident and strong. Cheer for us at the tournament from WePlay!"
CemaTheSlayer began his Dota2 career in March 2013, when he joined a Ukrainian stack named Aurochs, where he played alongside some lesser-known Dota2 players in Montana, CA, t0ssy and dubas. Later that year, CemaTheSlayer joined DTS2010, where he played alongside Dmitry "UnderShock" Bolshakov and Arsenij "ArsZeeqq" Usov, who later became a coach for Effect, Team Empire, Virtus.pro and recently coached Winstrike Team, before the team released its roster due to unsatisfactory results.
In years that followed CemaTheSlayer played for Courage, Ahead Gaming, Aware and BUHLO-UroPb which was signed by Vega Squadron in November 2014. While playing under Vega Squadron banner, CemaTheSlayer claimed some impressive achievements, including silver medals at Captains Draft 3.0 and WePlay Dota 2 League Season 3, while also claiming top-three finishes at Game Show Global eSports Cup Season 1, ESL One Frankfurt 2016 and StarLadder ImbaTV Invitational Season 5.
CemaTheSlayer left Vega Squadron in September 2018, teamed up with Odium and shortly after left for The Pango, where he played alongside Zayac and Andrey "Ghostik" Kadyk. With The Pango, CemaTheSlayer failed to see much success besides fifth-sixth place finish at ESL One Mumbai 2019 and in October 2018 left for FlyToMoon.
Most notable results CemaTheSlayer achieved while playing under FlyToMoon banner were gold medal at LOOT.BET/DOTA, second place at GG.Bet Hamburg Invitational and fifth-sixth place finish at DreamLeague Season 12. In January 2020, he also won Maincast Winter Brawl, thus helped his team start the year on the right foot. Unfortunately, his venture with FlyToMoon ended at the start of February, when he got acquired by NaVi, who allowed him to prove himself as a stand-in player and CemaTheSlayer passed the test with flying colours, having played a pivotal role in NaVi's successful run through Major qualifiers.
Although ESL One Los Angeles Major ended up postponed, Natus Vincere will have a chance to prove themselves against some of the strongest teams tomorrow, on Friday, March 20, when they will attend WeSave! Charity Play.
Attending the charity event will be 24 teams from six regions, including business associates CR4ZY, Cloud9, Evil Genuises, NoPing e-sports, Thunder Predator, beastcoast, FURIA Esports, Team Liquid, Nigma, Team Secret, OG, Virtus.pro, HellRaisers, B8, EHOME, Invictus Gaming, PSG.LGS, ViCi Gaming, Geek Fam, BOOM Esports, TNC Predator and Team Adroit.
A total of US $120,000 in the prize pool will be on the line, spread evenly across all six regions, with all winnings going to charity to the team's choosing. The organisers also noted the prize pool could increase via donations and from sponsors.
NAVI Dota 2 roster:
Vladislav "Crystallize" Krystanek
Idan "MagicaL" Vardanian
Pavel "9pasha" Khvastunov
Semion "CemaTheSlayer" Krivulya
Illias "Illias" Ganeev
