Danil “Dendi” Ishutin leaves Natus Vincere after eight years

At long last, an iconic team loses their most iconic legend. Danil “Dendi” Ishutin, the mid player and staple celebrity of Natus Vincere, is departing from the organization, the org’s CEO announced in a roster update video on Saturday.

Despite his many years in the game, including in the legacy game DotA: Allstars, the 28-year-old esports pro and personality isn’t ending his gaming career prospects just yet. He clarified on Twitter that he’s just looking for a new organization to reside with.

Still, it’s going to be hard for many fans to separate the brand from the man. During his tenure on Navi, Dendi built up a legacy that brought together the Dota 2 community. On top of being one of the most well-known mid-lane players and Twitch streamers, he’s known for his outgoing, kind and sincere personality.

His first Dota 2 event under NaVi was recorded for the official Valve documentary Free To Play, in which he and his family talk about his life and pursuit of the $1 million prize at Gamescom 2011. Dendi would go on with NaVi to take that grand prize by beating Chinese team EHOME. He and this team were also one half of The International 2013’s famous grand finals versus Swedish team Alliance.

Since then, NaVi’s success in the Dota scene has been mixed, especially as they’ve failed to qualify for The International two years in a row.

NaVi itself has revamped most of its roster, keeping one of its current members, Vladislav “Crystallize” Krystanek, and bringing back Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev. The current members are as follows:

• Akbar “SoNNeikO” Butaev
• Vladislav “Crystallize” Krystanek
• Evgeniy “Blizzy” Ree
• Idan “MagicaL” Vardanyan

The team is currently looking for a fifth player.