ESL Pro League S7 Finals: the end of the run

Settling at the 3rd-4th place

The semifinals of ESL Pro League S7 Finals saw NAVI.GG.BET play against Team Liquid in a Bo3 series. The series ended with the defeat of NAVI with a 0:2 score.

Game 1 - Natus Vincere [0:1] Team Liquid

The first game started off with 2 points going the way of Team Liquid, while the third point was claimed by NAVI, tying the game 2:2 eventually. We've taken the lead on the map, and the economy was fairly well-established for our side. Despite 1 point taken by Team Liquid, NAVI managed to take the next one, denying the chance to re-establish economy for the opponent.

Another string of rounds saw our team reach the 8-point milestone very soon, as Team Liquid lagged behind. They got another point right after we got to 8 points, and the game got a bit more unstable towards the end of the first half, as the Counter-Terrorists managed to get a couple points to end the half at 9:6.

The second half went rather well for NAVI at the beginning with 3 points going our way right away, while the first gun round ended our streak. Team Liquid went on a streak of their own, getting 3 points. This effort, while certainly improving the situation of the opponents on the map, did not propel the Terrorists close enough to us just yet.

However, as NAVI did not hold to the 1 round earned, Team Liquid managed to get 3 more to make it to the minimal advantage, and even make it even - 13:13. Two rounds later, the opponents got to the match point, with the first one denied by us. However, during the last round, nitr0 managed to catch Edward off-guard as he was coming in from behind, upsetting our plans and taking de_dust 16:14.

Game 2 - Natus Vincere [0:2] Team Liquid

The second game started off rather bad for Natus Vincere, as the first 4 rounds were taken by the opponent. We had a rough time warming up on inferno, as even the gun rounds did not salvage the situation - NAVI were down 0:6; the round 7 saw flamie almost defend the bomb, but he got overpowered and the bomb was defused.

Eventually, NAVI got the first round on board during the 9th round, getting a few more right after that, trying to diminish the disadvantage. The first half ended with a 4:11 score, and there was a lot of work to do on the second half.

The second pistol round did not improve our standing at all, as the Team Liquid claimed the first two rounds. The game was becoming uncomfortably close, so NAVI had to step up and claim a couple of rounds - while definitely not game-changing, any point was too valuable. The teams traded rounds, but we benefitted more from it, as Team Liquid had their economy ruined.

Unfortunately, this did not stop them from getting to matchpoint at 7:15. From then on, every kill would count - NAVI were holding on to everything they could get their hands on. Eventually, we've broken double digits, but that was it, as NAVI drops the game 10:16 and stops the run at the semifinals.