My sources have confirmed that KOI are the team that are looking to sign a Russian roster next year-heres who they are vying for
HC: Doombros/Erik
Duelist: Purp0
Flex: Sheydos
Initator igl: Kr1stal
Smokes: Shao
Sentinel: Chiwa
Pretty sure the bonjour tweet is Demon1 being in Paris. Though it isn't out of the question that being in Europe allows him to negotiate and scrim for European teams like KOI. I am kind of glad that I got 2 of the potential signings for the all-Russian team correct. I had a feeling kr1stal would be picked up as IGL since GE has insane player turnover. Purp0 as duelist just makes sense. He is cracked and I think if he has competent support alongside him, it can make the team more balanced. Sheydos is already at KOI, but inactive. Hopefully him on flex with some flash initiator roles can unlock his GAMBIT days because he had some crazy moments. Not on the same level as Nats and Chronicle, but definitely notable nonetheless.
I think Shao is a nice signing since he has great quality, but he is more of an initiator/sentinel player nowadays. I don't doubt that he can play smokes more often and be amazing, but there are other options. I've seen people theorise Demon1 and I want to play into it since Demon1 as a smokes-duelist flex alongside Purp0 would be a fun EG-esque composition. Purp0 has played Omen and I think that if Purp0 plays everything but Jett and Demon1 plays Jett, Brim, Astra, it could be interesting.
Chiwa is a player I want to see in the VCT since he has been so dominant in tier 2 on sentinel. However, after his whole VISA fiasco this year, I fear he will have his time wasted and opportunities squandered by things out of his control and the org will scramble for a last second pick that doesn't fit well. Hopefully the VISAs can be sorted before the start of 2026 if he is to be signed, but I would hope to see maybe a new player like rexxtoned be signed. Young cracked sentinel for TL Academy. The only difficulty is getting him to sign for any team that's not TL, but that might be easier said than done since TL already has a cracked Russian sentinel in Nats.
I dont think shao is gonna join koi but i think it makes sense for navi to get rid of him, navi added new pieces this year and reached new heights since 2023, i think its good reason for them to want to build around ruxic alexiik and hiro (idk the igl scene in emea rn they keep ange1 if theres no good options probably but if there is thats probably a change they may look to)