ESL One Cologne 2018: a triumph in the finals!

CS2 / News / 8 July 2018 — 19:24

The final triumph!

The grand finals of ESL One Cologne 2018 saw NAVI.GG.BET take on BIG. The heated Bo5 ended in a 3:1 victory for Natus Vincere!

Game 1 - Natus Vincere [1:0] BIG

Overpass started with the pistols going the way of BIG and the next one followed the suit. However, round 3 saw us take the first point of the series, and went on a 4-round streak, not only trying to break ahead but also inflict as much economic damage as possible. Unfortunately, the opponents gathered themselves and were able to stop advances towards B bombsite twice.

The tides turned yet again - we maintained a small lead and a solid economy, but BIG claimed the eco round. NAVI managed to overcome the opponent, albeit not without difficulties, and got to the 8-round milestone. The final round saw BIG pull off an almost unreal defuse - NAVI take the half 8:7.

The second pistols were claimed by NAVI, while the next round was an incredibly tough moment, as Zeus, despite allowing to plant the bomb, pulled off a very hard clutch. 2 more went our way before BIG came online in the second half, trading rounds, eventually breaking the double digits.

However, NAVI took a rather important round, as BIG had no money left as a result, allowing us to take the 15th round for the map point, and eventual victory on the first map 16:10!

Game 2 - Natus Vincere [1:1] BIG

Dust 2 was the second map of the grand finals, and the NAVI took the pistols and followed that up with 2 more. However, BIG managed to take the first gun round. We followed that with a defuse, yet another round victory for the opponents forced NAVI to eco.

After the eco, though, the defense denied the opportunity to tie the score, getting to 5:3. BIG were playing a very careful game; after they took their fourth round, NAVI had to force, dropping 1 more - round difference dropped to 0 soon after, Teams traded again, until finally, BIG took the first half 8:7.

The pistols saw tabseN go on a spree, pulling off an ace. 2 round later, NAVI came online in the second half, disrupting the opponents' economy for a while. This allowed us to climb back up, almost tying the game yet again; another ace stopped us in our tracks.

Despite that, we still had the money and took a round in return. Unfortunately, that was the last round we took in this game, as BIG closed the map very confidently - 11:16, as we're going to map 3.

Game 3 - Natus Vincere [2:1] BIG

The next game unraveled on Train. NAVI dropped the first pistols, and 2 more to go with it. The first gun round saw BIG pull off a defuse to extend their lead until we finally came up online. Unfortunately, we didn't capitalize on the round taken right away, allowing BIG to drive us into an eco.

The eco, though, worked out still, as we snatched an AWP early into the round, earning the second round, and getting a series just as well. We came close to the opponent, tying the game 5:5 - NAVI forced an eco upon the opponent but did not manage to break ahead. 13th round saw electronic in a 1v2 - he finished off 1, but fell to the other, propelling BIG to 8 points; the half ended with 7:8 for NAVI.

The second pistols went the way of the German team once again, as they got a couple of points their way, but we responded with a couple of our own thanks to a great game by electronic, and we've built up the morale. BIG got shut down quite hard, as we had a very good positioning, eventually leading up to 15 points for us. NAVI did not want to let the game draw any further, denying the opponent the chance to come back - 16:10 for us!

Game 4 - Natus Vincere [3:1] BIG

Inferno was the 4th map of the day, and the first pistols went the way of NAVI. We made it to the gun round without any rounds dropped - 3:0 our way. BIG took the guns round and capitalized on it to take 1 more, but NAVI was ready to retaliate. The opponents managed to drive our economy in a rather bad shape, allowing them to catch up and even break ahead for a moment.

Next round, though, a great positioning from our team allowed us to tie the game again - 6:6. For the last round of the half, BIG decided to rush B, and that didn't work out too well - 8:7 for NAVI.

The pistols on the second half was dominated by NAVI yet again, as BIG didn't come online at all. We took round after round, denying the opponent a chance to come online and contest the lead. Eventually, NAVI hit the double difference, and that was when BIG took the first round on the defense. The next, round, though, saw NAVI hit the match point, and we had a lot to work with. Yet we did not want to prolong this map, taking it right away 16:8 and becoming the champions of ESL One Cologne 2018!