When Denis ‘electronic’ Sharipov joined Natus Vincere in November 2017, the CIS region had a new young prodigy to get behind. Unfortunately, his impact wasn’t as instantaneous as many had hoped, and Na’Vi’s struggles continued as they failed to qualify for ECS Season 5. After several mediocre placements, the team was on the brink of collapse following s1mple and flamie’s alleged offers from abroad, and electronic’s future was seemingly hanging in the balance.

Fast forward to the summer of 2018, and Natus Vincere find themself second on HLTV’s rankings, with the squad managing to lift three trophies back-to-back. The catalyst to this success can be broken down into two sources; s1mple’s continued excellence, and the young star electronic stepping up. Let's break down electronic’s success in July, and conclude why he’s this months Rivalry Rising Star.

July 2018: a month to remember for electronic

Na’Vi flew out to Germany for ESL One Cologne off the back of their June tournament win in China. That victory in China was promising, but their opponents weren’t of the same calibre of those travelling to Cologne, and a tournament win on German soil at the ‘cathedral of Counter-Strike’ was surely too much to ask for the CIS roster, despite the team’s upward trajectory in form.

Natus Vincere came out of the blocks slowly, posting a tight 14-16 loss to the recently reformed G2. Their pain didn’t last however, with Na’Vi going on to knock out Cloud9, fnatic and Astralis, before their grand final victory over hometown favourites BIG in a best-of-five showdown. Na’Vi were the champions of Cologne, and electronic played a crucial role in the victory.

electronic seemed to find his stride in Cologne when it mattered most. He delivered a mighty 1.31 rating over 17 maps, going +93 for the tournament. This included a decimation of the current best team in Counter-Strike, Astralis, on Overpass in the first map of a BO3 series. electronic had a 1.69 rating on Overpass, going 30-17. Without an individual performance of this level, Na’Vi would have likely crashed out of the tournament at the hands of the Danes.

Following the victory in Cologne, Na’Vi headed for Atlanta for ELEAGUE Premier. Unfortunately, Na’Vi couldn’t retain the top spot, but the side put out a strong showing, taking down fnatic and mousesports, before falling to Team Liquid in the semi-final. electronic averaged an admirable 1.17 rating over the eight maps he played, proving that the young Russians performance in Cologne wasn’t a one off against this calibre of opponent.

If electronic continues to deliver, Na’Vi will continue to find success

Na’Vi now have two very special players on their roster. Firstly, the team has s1mple, and in terms of raw firepower, he is unmatched and is the best player in Counter-Strike. Following him, electronic is now starting to live up to his potential by delivering big numbers map after map. His uptake in form has coincided with Na’Vi’s rejuvenated success, and it is no coincidence.

electronic is still a young player, at 19 years of age, and his time competing against the worlds best under the wing of the experienced talent at Na’Vi could result in him developing into a real star. Denis 'electronic' Sharipov is a name that we’ll see continuing to dominate the server for some time, and the upcoming FACEIT Major in September will be an exciting further test of his talents.

Denis 'electronic' Sharipov is Rivalry’s Rising Star for July!

Each month, Rivalry will donate $500 to a charity of the players choice. We've tweeted electronic to find his choice of charity and will update this article once we've heard back from him!