Natus Vincere delivered a massive finish in the recently-held PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 when they emerged as champions after closing out a promising competition where they weren’t even favorites to begin with. Now that they are back at the top of the CS2 world, their success is something that should be celebrated now more than ever.
Background: How NaVi Reached the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024?
Natus Vincere proved to be one of the lowly teams in the competition to begin with. They weren’t even contenders right off the bat considering that they didn’t have some impressive outings in the past few months. However, after emerging victorious in the European RMR A and securing a spot in the Major, NaVi braced themselves to battle at a high level as the tournament demanded a huge battle on the big stage.
Lucky for them, NaVi would play straight into the Elimination Stages, along with the likes of FaZe Clan, Team Spirit, Team Vitality, MOUZ, Complexity Gaming, Virtus.pro, and G2 Esports. They have evaded the battles that would take place in the Opening Stage invites, especially with a total of 16 teams battling on that end. This would save them time and the risk of being eliminated earlier than expected, and one can even say that they got lucky enough to avoid this stage.
Being able to go straight to the Elimination Stages means that NaVi would be able to wait, have some rest in their games and prepare for their potential opponent. It does seem that fate allowed them to find their way to an advanced stage that would have them waiting one step away from the playoffs.
Battling Through the Elimination Stages
When the Elimination Stages began for NaVi, the team was on a roll. They first defeated The MongolZ in Round 1 at Mirage, before finally taking down G2 Esports in Nuke to have a 2-0 run in the stage. The team would then come up with two rough stretches, losing to Team Spirit and Cloud9 in back to back games, which nearly cost them a chance at winning and securing a spot for the playoffs. NaVi would then battle against the paiN Gaming, winning in two matches to lock in the sixth spot and putting up a 3-2 record in their matches. NaVi outscored them 13-10 in the first map at Nuke, then followed that up with another promising victory by closing paiN at Mirage with a 13-9 score to put up a 2-0 victory, wrapping up their run in the Elimination Stages.
Surviving the Playoff Stages
Natus Vincere’s placing proved to be a tactical finish in the Elimination Stages, as the team managed to be placed in a bracket against Eternal Fire, and the other side had G2 Esports and MOUZ. NaVi had to brave a tough opening round in the Quarterfinals as they barely edged EF in Mirage at 16-13 to open their showdown. It was a narrow win in the second map when NaVi pulled off a 13-9 victory to close out Inferno, showing that they still have their groove going coming off a promising run in the Elimination Stages. NaVi would then find itself in a showdown against one of their rivals in G2 Esports, whom they defeated in Nuke at the Elimination Stages. The semifinal battle was filled with a lot of intensity, with NaVi narrowly escaping Anubis with a 16-13 score.
G2 would then respond and avenge their ES loss at Nuke, beating the Ukrainian squad at 13-7 to tie the series at 1-1. With the deciding map set at Ancient, NaVi pulled off a dominant performance before G2 tried to battle back and fell short, with Natus Vincere finishing the semis at 2-1 and locking in a spot for the Grand Final.
Showdown vs FaZe Clan in the Grand Final
On the other size, FaZe Clan had to battle against some of the best teams in the competition, taking down Team Spirit 2-1 in the Quarterfinals, and then defeating Team Vitality in another 2-1 affair in the semis. Most of their battles have been intense, especially against Team Spirit. This has definitely played a huge role on how they would face NaVi in the final stage, with fatigue playing a huge role in their chances of winning in the competition.
When the Final began, NaVi managed to draw first blood in their game at Ancient, storming to a 13-9 victory in the first map to take a 1-0 lead in the Final. However, FaZe did not let up in the showdown, responding with a dominant and whopping 13-2 victory in Mirage, leading the series to be tied at 1-1. The 13-2 win by FaZe was the biggest margin of victory in the competition as well, which says a lot about the intense battle that took place.
However, NaVi would not let up in their showdown this time as they made sure that they would be able to answer back with a massive win of their own. True enough, NaVi responded with a 13-3 victory in the final map, Inferno, locking up a promising finish by having a 9-3 lead in the first half of the game, before finally scoring four more points and preventing FaZe Clan from making a comeback, wrapping up the title win in the PGL Major.
What’s Next for Natus Vincere in CS2?
NaVi has pulled off some of the biggest performances in CS2. The victory also marked their first Major win since the PGL Major Stockholm in 2021, and this year saw them earn a lion’s share of the prize money at $500,000, including 3,500 BLAST Premier Points. On top of that, NaVi has been automatically qualified for the Esports World Cup 2024 and the BLAST Premier World Final, which are the big events that would take place later in the season. Who knows, maybe they can make the most of their campaign with a promising run for the titles in the coming months.
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