The start of the new season was not too good for Natus Vincere: at BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022 it lost the first two matches, losing to MIBR and Astralis, and as a result ended up in last place in the group. Unlike many other teams, NAVI did not rebuild their roster at the beginning of the year, which seems quite logical given the success they have had in 2021.
However, in their opening match at BLAST Premier Spring Groups, the CIS team lost to MIBR, which was especially unexpected considering that one of the regular players in the Brazilian squad was replaced by a cyber athlete from the youth squad. In the match against Astralis, Natus Vincere lost on Mirage by a wide margin (9 – 15). They managed to reduce the difference in the score and take the game into overtime, but the Danes eventually won (17 – 19).
Finding themselves in last place in Group B, Natus Vincere are in danger of dropping out of the tournament. The team will have to fight for a playoff spot in the Gauntlet stage. This is a new tournament component that BLAST has added this season. Next Thursday, Alexander «s1mple» Kostylev's team will face the team that will take the third place in Group C. If the team wins this match, it will still have a chance to qualify for the final stage of the tournament.