StarSeries S5: victory over Virtus.pro

A confident performance!

The 3rd match for NAVI.GG.BET at StarLadder StarSeries Season 5 pitted us against  Virtus.pro. The series ended with a 2:0 victory for us!

Game 1 - Natus Vincere [1:0] Virtus.pro

The first game of the series started off with a good performance by NAVI during the pistols round, which drove us up 3:0. The first gun round saw us pull off another defuse, getting more money and establishing a good economy. Virtus.pro, in their turn, were not sitting on a very good economy after that, which allowed us to take a few more. Ultimately, we've hit 8 points while the opponent had none.

It was the 9th round that saw Virtus.pro take their first round on board, and the second one to go with it. Those rounds strengthened their economy, and the teams started trading rounds. Even though we dropped a couple, the game favored us still just as much - the first half closed at 11:4.

The second half saw NAVI end up in a minority, but even despite the disadvantage, a good aim of our players drove the round our way. The second round, though, saw Virtus.pro take the initiative, driving our economy into a rather unfavorable state. The scoreline hit 12:8, and we had to go for the eco round.

The CZ's worked out very well for us - NAVI took the eco round. We had to do a lot to avoid the reset, and it seemed like the 3v5 round would be taken by VP, yet the turnaround was there, turning the tides. 3 bomb plants in a row, a solid economy and 15:8 - we were sitting in a very good position on de_nuke. But the first match point did not have anything good for us in store - 15:9, as Virtus.pro started to come back into the game. 5 AK's and a decent grenade buy secured us a very close round - 16:11 is the de_nuke score.

Game 2 - Natus Vincere [2:0] Virtus.pro

The second game started with a 3-round streak for Natus Vincere, but the first gun round was claimed by Virtus.pro. We did not allow them the opportunity to tie the score, getting a couple of round before VP took a couple of their own. We decided to go for pistols and guns to boost our economy, and it worked out great, as NAVI secure another point, maintaining the advantage.

Eventually, we got to the 8th point, securing the first half and working on making the advantage larger for the second half. Even having a decent economy, though, made it not an easy feat, as the opponents were holding on to each round, ultimately taking a couple. 10:5 was the score for the first half.

The second half, though, did not start off that well for Natus Vincere, as the first couple was taken by the opponent, but the third was ours. That one round laid a good foundation for us - 3-point series was ours before VP had a chance to retaliate. 13:8 quickly became 14:8, and the economy of the opponent was definitely not at its highest.

We've decided to play it slower, waiting for Virtus.pro: unfortunately, this didn't work out well, as we dropped a point - 14:9. The opponents did not capitalize on this, and NAVI managed to clutch out the last round to make it 15:9, and right in the next one making it a game - 16:9!

Overall match stats