DreamHack Masters Stockholm: victory vs Ghost Gaming

NAVI.GG.BET takes the victory!

NAVI.GG.BET encountered Ghost Gaming yet again, this time in a Bo3 series at DreamHack Masters Stockholm. After 3 intense and close games, NAVI takes the series 2:1 and advances forth!

Mirage - Natus Vincere [0:1] Ghost Gaming

The pistols round went the way of NAVI, as we didn't suffer many casualties at all, with only Zeus falling. We've climbed 3:0, but the first gun round went the way of Ghost Gaming. Another 3-round streak by NAVI broke the bank of the opponent initially, but as they took 8-9th, it was NAVI with a bad economy. The rounds were incredibly close, often with 1-2 people left alive for each team.

Despite a very long streak, the economy for Ghost Gaming wasn't looking extremely good, as they kept losing many people. The game got tied at 7:7, as NAVI finally managed to come back on board. For the final round of the half, flamie was left in a 1v4, and that was too much to handle - the first half goes the way of the opponent.

There was a lot of action in the second pistols - as the dust settled, NAVI was the one to claim it. As we got a 1-round lead, Ghost retaliated, equalizing the score back - 9 for each. They capitalized on the round, and we had to force buy. electronic was left in a 1v4 position. Eventually, NAVI managed to get a good buy and come online, but only for 1 round.

Ghost was coming dangerously close to finishing the game, as all they had left were 3 rounds to take the map. Despite the best attempts of NAVI, it seemed to be incredibly difficult to find a solid opening into a round and get a series going. Another round pushed us to 11, but Ghost immediately took the match point - 15:11. The final round of the map saw flamie left 1v4 - Ghost Gaming take Mirage 16:11.

Nuke - Natus Vincere [1:1] Ghost Gaming

The second map started off with a defeat for NAVI, and eventually fell to 0:3. However, we managed to save a few guns, and that secured us a nice boost and a lot of utility coming into the first gun round, and that allowed us to establish a solid streak, tying the game 3:3. NAVI streak went all the way to 5, until Ghost picked up a round in a 1v1. Teams kept trading, but NAVI maintained a decent lead, yet towards the end of the half, the advantage was minimal. The first half ended with an 8:7 on the scoreboard.

The second half started just like the first one, with 3 rounds going the way of Ghost Gaming. We were falling behind - electronic almost pulled off an unbelievable 1v4 clutch. That seemed to breathe the second life into NAVI, as we started to take round after round. Not only we covered the economic disadvantage, but also came very close to the match point, but failing to get it, as we lost a 3v1.

Next round saw a lot of action from both teams, as a 3v3 ended with a defuse attempt from the opponent falling just short - the first match point is ours. The last round saw an attempted defuse from Ghost Gaming, but the lack of defuse kit made it impossible, as electronic lived just long enough to secure the map win - we go to the deciding game!

Inferno - Natus Vincere [2:1] Ghost Gaming

The third map saw teams trade rounds, but as the game progressed, NAVI solidified their map presence, containing the aggression coming in from Ghost. The opponent didn't have a good response for that, until we got into a 1v1 situation during the 6th round. The opponent had the patience to finish the round their way, but that didn't upset us too much.

The next, round, though, saw flamie attempt a defuse after a 2v1 situation, but the time wasn't enough - Ghost take another. The score eventually equalized, with 4 rounds for each team, which soon became 6 - the trades coming in from both teams kept everyone on the edge of the seat. The first half concluded with a 9:6 - we were very close to getting a very convincing lead.

The second half started with a 3k from flamie, as he found himself in a 1v2 situation defending the plant. Even the opening kills coming in from Ghost didn't let them take over the initiative of the game. NAVI had a very good economy, and we used to the fullest, securing round after round. Soon we hit 14 points, and the opponents didn't come online for the duration of the second half at all.

We were 1 round away from making it to the playoffs. The 22nd round quickly ended up in a 5v1, and Ghost Gaming had no chance to come back into the round. The final game ends with 16:6, as NAVI advance forth to the playoffs.

OVERALL MATCH RESULTS