NAVI ready to defend title at PGL Antwerp
The reigning champions qualified after besting Team Vitality.
One of the big favorites for PGL Antwerp can start to prepare their title defense. Natus Vincere became the fourth team from the European A RMR Group to qualify for next month's major in Belgium.
But NAVI had to work hard for their Major spot. Against Team Vitality there were no easy rounds in the matchup, that started on Inferno. Here it was one of the unsung heroes of the NAVI roster, that made it possible for the CIS team to steal Vitality's map pick away. Kirill 'Boombl4' Mikhailov went deep and played a spectacular map and carried his team to a 16-13 win after a close affair.
On Mirage it was Aleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev, who took upon the role as a classic schoolyard bully! The Ukrainian mastermind was 13-1 in K-D after round seven, where he clutched a 1vs3 situation to put NAVI 7-0 up in the first half. But then Vitality came back. 0-7 was turned into an 8-7 lead at halftime leaving little doubt, that the French/Danish roster would do everything they could to deny NAVI the win.
The second half was again a close one. But like Inferno, it was NAVI who had the upper hand with s1mple playing an overall fantastic map.
Natus Vincere - Team Vitality 2-0 | PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Europe RMR A
16-13 (Inferno) | 
Boombl4 – 1.57 Rating / 27-19 K-D / 113.8 ADR
16-13 (Mirage) | 
s1mple – 1.67 Rating / 34-16 K-D / 100.6 ADR
MVP: Aleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev | 1.42 Rating / 56-34 K-D / 90.7 ADR
