Sources: Natus Vincere are set to launch a VALORANT academy in 2026

According to sources close to Sheep Esports, Natus Vincere are preparing to launch a VALORANT academy roster for the 2026 season. The project will target players aged between 16 and 19, with Ivan "Johnta" Shevtsov to support and coach this new project. Per sources, the idea will be to open recruitment broadly, making it accessible to all interested profiles, before structuring the lineup at a later stage. As things currently stand, no slot has been secured yet, although the organization intends to guide this future team toward the VCL: NORTH//EAST.

Such a direction comes as little surprise for an organization like NAVI. On VALORANT, the club has already shown that it is capable of building open competitive formats around its community, most notably through the NAVI VALORANT Ukrainian Saga tournaments, which operated via open qualifiers. More broadly, NAVI also already have a concrete academy model in place through NAVI Visa Academy, presented by the team as a platform designed to help the next generation emerge.

From a competitive standpoint, the context surrounding the VCT roster makes this kind of initiative appear fairly logical. In 2025, NAVI first fell short at the VCT EMEA Kickoff, losing to Karmine Corp and then Fnatic, thereby missing out on Masters Bangkok. The remainder of the season proved more solid, with the team finishing Stage 1 groups in 5th–6th place. Stage 2 then showed genuine improvement. NAVI secured a top-four finish by the end of their run, although they still failed to qualify for VALORANT Champions 2025.

The 2026 season began with some major changes, such as Kyrylo "ANGE1" Karasov switching from player to coach and the recruitment of Volkan "sociablEE" Yonal and Dawid "Filu" Czarnecki. The team got off to a good start during the Kickoff by beating Karmine Corp and Team Heretics, but then suffered defeats against Gentle Mates and Fnatic, and were eventually eliminated by Team Heretics — whom they had beaten earlier — to finish this first tournament of the year in 7th place.