NAVI has replaced koalanoob with alexiiik for VCT EMEA Stage 2
Image credit: NAVI Valorant via X NAVI has announced Alex ‘alexiiik’ Hawlasek as the newest member of its VALORANT roster ahead of VCT EMEA Stage 2. The Czech player will replace GianFranco ‘koalanoob’ Potestio, who had already been moved to an inactive position after Stage 1. VCT partner team NAVI has struggled to keep up … Continued The post NAVI has replaced koalanoob with alexiiik for VCT EMEA Stage 2 appeared first on Esports Insider.
NAVI has announced Alex ‘alexiiik’ Hawlasek as the newest member of its VALORANT roster ahead of VCT EMEA Stage 2.
The Czech player will replace GianFranco ‘koalanoob’ Potestio, who had already been moved to an inactive position after Stage 1.
VCT partner team NAVI has struggled to keep up with VALORANT’s top-performing teams for several years now. Its best results so far were fourth-place finishes at 2023’s LOCK//IN event and EMEA League. Since its Champions run in the same year, the team has failed to qualify for any international competitions.
For this year’s competitive season, NAVI picked up koalanoob, who had seen success with M80 in North America’s Challengers circuit. However, NAVI’s new roster debuted with two losses at VCT EMEA Kickoff in January.
VCT Stage 1 gave NAVI fans hope as the squad had a promising Group Stage performance with a 3-2 match score. Despite advancing to the Playoffs bracket, NAVI crumbled in the Lower Bracket Quarterfinal against Team Liquid.
Following another disappointing tournament run, the organisation removed koalanoob from its starting roster at the beginning of June.
“After Stage 1 results, we have made the difficult decision to move koalanoob from the starting roster, who is now a restricted free agent & able to explore other options,” explained NAVI on social media.
“We are deeply grateful for all the dedication, commitment and hard-work Koala has shown for NAVI over the past months & wish him the best on the server.”
At the time, the announcement was met with confusion and frustration from the VALORANT community, with some pointing out koalanoob’s notable impact during Stage 1.
Who is NAVI’s New VALORANT Player?
Alexiiik has been competing in VALORANT since 2022 when he joined Enterprise Esports, one of the top esports organisations within the game’s Tier 2 esports ecosystem. At the start of 2025, he joined Serbian-Polish esports organisation, Zero Tenacity.
Throughout the last two years of his career, alexiiik has won two Challengers 2025 East trophies and has become runner-up twice. His most recent achievement was a second-place finish at Challengers NORTH//EAST Stage 2 in April.
The post NAVI has replaced koalanoob with alexiiik for VCT EMEA Stage 2 appeared first on Esports Insider.
