ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2018: loss vs Team Liquid

NAVI secure the top 4

In the semifinal of ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2018,  NAVI.GG.BET lost to  Team Liquid (0:2) and took 3-4 place in the tournament.

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

Thanks to the timely execute onto B point from electroNic,  NAVI players strengthened their A site with four players and subsequently won the round. Unfortunately, the American team managed to answer with the force buy their way. Further,  NAVI decided to ditch the regular "force buy + eco" to pull off 2 buys in a row, but they were unsuccessful.

Despite this, in the 5th round our guys won the eco with some better pistols. Thanks to that, Natus Vincere took the lead - 4:3. Having stabilized the financial situation, players of Liquid intercepted the initiative in the match: they earned two points and left counter-terrorists without money. Natus Vincere took advantage of a tactical pause, deciding to pull off a buy with the money at their disposal.

This move worked - now Liquid faced economic problems. However, this time our guys failed to further their success and lost to the desperate buy round of the attack. The end of the first half of the meeting went the way of Team Liquid, thanks to which the opponents completed it in their favor with a double advantage (10:5).

The second pistol went to the American team, but NAVI managed to plant the bomb. Instead of a full eco, our guys went for a buy and won it! In the gun round, Natus Vincere had a good run as well, with the classic play onto the B site.

The teams traded rounds, which led to the economy of the defense resetting. NAVI fully took advantage of the opportunity and equalized the score - 12:12.

As the game went on, it was becoming increasingly intense. In the 27th round, s1mple came close to ace-clutch, but in the decisive duel, nitr0 was stronger. The end of the game 1 saw teams on equal footing, but the victory still went to the American team - 16:13.

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

The starting portion of Overpass went the way of  Natus Vincere: our guys won the pistol round, force buy and eco. Due to the constant deaths of the players in the first three rounds, we had some economic problems after losing the first gun round. Subsequently, the American squad equalized the score in the match - 3:3.

The Born to Win decided to take a time-out. The short talk brought its fruits:  NAVI claimed the fourth point as the attack. The eighth round was one o the most important ones in the half in terms of economy, as the losing team would likely get its economy reset.

Team Liquid managed to secure that key round, but since CTs always suffered heavy casualties, often having 1 player left, our guys continued to go for buys. As a result, Natus Vincere did not manage to seize the initiative, so the first half of the meeting was taken by Team Liquid with a score of 9:6.

NAVI started the second half with the pistol round and force buy victories, but from the eco round onwards, our guys could not cope with the rival. Having lost in the next round, the Born to Win suffered an economic reset.

Even when the financial situation of the counter-terrorists stabilized, the game continued to be dictated by the American five. The last attempt to turn the Overpass around was a round with two AWPs. This buy-round ended in favor of Natus Vincere. However, that was it for the game: Liquid beat  NAVI on Overpass (16:9).

Overall match stats