NAVI Clinches Historic Inaugural CS2 Esports World Cup Title

The curtains closed in Riyadh with a trophy lift for NAVI following an action-packed grand finale.

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During the early stages of the event, NAVI walking the distance seemed improbable with teams like Spirit, FaZe Clan and Vitality standing out as contenders for the title.

The team’s overall performance went downhill since winning the PGL Copenhagen Major. Consequently, criticism and pressure overshadowed their minimal achievements before the player break.

Before their trophy lift, NAVI raised quite the eyebrows when it came to their Major run and whether it was a mere “fluke Major”. A term that haunted Virtus.Pro for the last two years.

Now, Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen and his team stand as the conquerors of CS2, while silencing the naysayers.

The road to victory

Their championship run started against FURIA. Brazil’s representatives on the international stage didn't stand a chance against a formidable Valerij "b1t" Vakhovskiy, one of the best performing players in the event. The Ukrainian star with a 90.5% KAST in the series, netted his team a spot in the Playoffs against FaZe Clan, NAVI’s ultimate test so far in the Esports World Cup.

FaZe down!

As expected, the quarter finals was down to the wire with a slow start from Finn "karrigan" Andersen’s squad. FaZe will surely regret their sluggish starts, trailing 5-10 on both maps before mounting comebacks that ultimately fell short on both occasions.

Although known for their comebacks, “b1t” was yet again in top form, denying any attempt from FaZe on the first map, while stomping them on the second. With this convincing victory, the conversation about NAVI’s capabilities shifted towards making them a viable contender for the title.

Up next in the semi finals was a tenacious MOUZ, who secured two titles before the player break. Despite their success, Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek’s team was often looked at as a “less frightening” team in Riyadh.

Unwavering grit

The series kicked off on Dust 2 with a total wipe out from MOUZ at 13-1. NAVI barely survived the humiliation of getting bamboozled on their map pick. Yet, they managed to rise from the ashes and sweep MOUZ on the following maps.

Against all odds, they bounced back convincingly with 13-8 and 13-5 on Nuke and Mirage respectively. If it wasn’t clear by now, NAVI had a champion’s mental resilience, and G2 was the final obstacle on their road to glory.

The not so epic grand final

Coming into the event’s closure, it was anyone’s game. By then, G2 had a monumental tournament as a new team, with each piece of puzzle fitting perfectly.

As expected, G2 picked Ancient to start with. A map where Nikola “NiKo” Kovač and Mario "malbsMd" Samayoa excel and feel comfortable in. From the start, G2 showed their prowess on the map with six consecutive rounds on the T side. Yet, NAVI was up to the task and made the half competitive at 8-4.

During the second half, both teams went for each other’s necks. A tug of war as they traded rounds, before reaching overtime. Despite NAVI’s attempts at closing the gap, Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov came up massive with a 1vs3 clutch to set his team on map point before malbsMd cut straight through the B defenses to close out the map.

Unexpectedly, G2 vanished from the server in the following maps, as they were nuked on Nuke, and later walked on the Inferno in the aftermath. Despite not having the edge statistically, it was the mental resilience that pushed NAVI through into winning and lifting the Esports World Cup title.

We’d usually dissect every map in our recaps, but when the scoreline is 13-6 on both maps, we can only say that they were “Natus Vincere”. (Meaning: born to win)

Finally, with this victory, Aleksib extended his perfect record against his former organization to 7-0, securing his team's second trophy of the year after their unexpected triumph at the PGL Major in Copenhagen.

CS2 Esports World Cup Final Standings

Image source: Esports World Cup

Featured Image source: Esports World Cup

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