Confident NaVi best Vitality in 2-1 victory

Perhaps the biggest Bo3-series of the day was set out to be between Natus Vincere and Vitality. The matchup presented a chance for either team to advance to the upper finals of group B, should they win. And for the viewers of the professional Counter-Strike scene, a possibility to watch “s1mple” and “ZywOo” go head-to-head was presented. Whilst neither “ZywOo” nor “s1mple” had a crazy performance there was one team that was superior to the other and that team was Natus Vincere. After a slow start, they turned on their engines and closed out the series in a confident matter.

The first map was the pick of the French Vitality roster. The map chosen to start the Bo3-series was the map of Overpass. The decision to pick Overpass not only stems from the fact that Vitality are incredibly strong on the map but presumably also because of Natus Vincere’s track record of having difficulties playing their t-side on Overpass to perfection. It was also the French to open up the series with a lead. Due to an impeccable t-sided half, the French managed to create a 10-5 lead going into their CT-side on the second half of Overpass. Despite Natus Vincere’s previous difficulties on their T-side of Overpass today was different. Due to a strong performance from the 18-year-old “B1T”, they managed to claw themselves back into the game. Unfortunately, however, it was too little too late and at the narrow scoreline of 16-14 it was Vitality to take home map one of the series.

The second map was picked by Natus Vincere and saw the two teams heading to Nuke to battle it out. And with a 86% win rate in the past three months of playing the map, it was no surprise that the CIS giants of NaVi opted for Nuke as their map pick. Having started slow on Overpass and ended it strong it seemed as if NaVi had finally woken up from their slumber. The same was the case on Nuke. Leaving little to no room for the French Vitality to operate it was all Natus Vincere on Nuke. Despite clawing back a handful of rounds, Vitality had to see themselves bested at an embarrassing 16-5 scoreline on Nuke, meaning a third and final map in the series.

The final map was between NaVi and Vitality was to be played on Mirage. With the two biggest names on the server in “ZywOo” and “S1mple” it was clear that Mirage and its open spaces would be the perfect decider in the battle between the two. Despite being the third and final it seemed as if it was another pick from Natus Vincere once they got started. Carrying on from their incredible performance on Nuke they steamrolled Vitality and managed to close out the series with a 16-10 victory on Mirage.

Map 1 – Overpass

16-14 Vitality | B1T 1.84 Rating / 120.9 ADR / 35-17 K-D

Map 2 – Nuke

16-5 NaVi | Perfecto 1.69 Rating / 114.0 ADR / 24-12 K-D

Map 3 – Mirage

16-10 NaVi | s1mple 1.60 Rating / 102.1 ADR / 25-16 K-D

Highlight of the BO1-series

MVP

Ilya ”Perfecto” Zalutskiy| 1.25 Rating - 58-45 K/D - 84.9 ADR - 79.2% KAST

IEM Cologne 2021 update – BIG vs Team Liquid (2-0)

Whilst Natus Vincere and Vitality were trying to figure out which out of the two teams would advance to the upper finals of group B, another matchup took place at the IEM Cologne 2021 event. BIG and Team Liquid locked horns as they engaged in a battle for survival at the event. Team Liquid, now lead by “Stewie2K” was not up for the task brought to the table by the German Giants. With two strong performances on Vertigo and Nuke it was BIG to defeat Team Liquid and send them home to North America with a 2-0 victory.