ESL One Genting 2018 Qualifier: to the main event!
Natus Vincere G2A play a confident series and score 3:0!
It was the time for the final showdown - 2 teams have come to the end of ESL One Genting 2018 Qualifier to contest the spot for the LAN tournament. 
Natus Vincere G2A was to battle 
Team Empire in a Bo5 series, which ended with a 3:0 victory of NAVI!
Game 1 - Natus Vincere [1:0] Team Empire
Natus Vincere G2A
Team Empire
The first game of the series started off very dynamically, as cores and supports alike were rotating around the map, with both raking up kills wherever possible. As the laning stage was coming to a close, the Dire managed to come ahead in terms of both kills and net worth. Nonetheless, we still had to get a couple of items before becoming truly effective.
17 minutes in NAVI went for the first Roshan of the game, but got intercepted right as Roshan was very low - Ice Shards from enemy Tusk finished him off, and the Aegis was used up by our Gyrocopter right away - the Rosh fight resulted in 5 members of NAVI dead. The game looked quite grim for a while, but still manageable, as we were able to pick up some crucial kills on Team Empire.
Slowly but surely, Gyrocopter was becoming a bigger threat to Empire, as the damage output on our side was becoming harder to stand against. 3 minutes in a series of fights and pickoffs followed, which favored NAVI quite heavily. Just a littlу later we grouped up and went for the bottom lane, not only successfully destroying the T3, but defending our own high ground with the Dark Rift.
The third Roshan of the game went to NAVI, as Team Empire's attempt to contest proved to be futile, with all 3 items going to us. A little later a fight broke out in the middle lane, with 3 heroes concentrating on Gyrocopter, while the rest of NAVI handled the rest of the team. The fight was very good for us, and we decided to go for the T4, destroying one soon and retreating. However, a Double Damage rune picked up by Gyrocopter turned us right back, as NAVI went straight for the jugular - the last T4. The resistance on the side of Team Empire was strong, but not enough to overcome us - we take the throne and the game 1!
Game 2 - Natus Vincere [2:0] Team Empire
Natus Vincere G2A
Hero 1
Hero 2
Hero 3
Hero 4
Hero 5
Team Empire
Hero 1
Hero 2
Hero 3
Hero 4
Hero 5
The second game of the series saw just as much action as the first one, but kills were far rarer than the previous game. Pickoffs happened here and there, yet despite the kill score going the way of Team Empire, we had a slight net worth lead, which kept switching between the teams. 16 minutes in the Radiant went for the first Roshan of the game, and our attempt to contest it was unsuccessful.
Following that, Team Empire overextended in the top lane, as we were ready to take the Aegis fight - 5 heroes dead for Empire, as we reclaim a big amount of net worth disadvantage. Slowly but surely, NAVI were getting more items and more levels, and ultimately, as a fight broke out in the middle lane, anything Team Empire could bring to the fight was not enough.
The game stalled for a bit, with neither team really able to get any crucial kills, up until Luna got her Aghanim's Scepter - we were not ready for that, and the fight went to Team Empire, allowing them to claim the second Aegis of the game. 3 minutes later it was used up, as Luna died alone in the middle lane, and Team Empire had to run away after her second death to minimize the losses.
The game became a true see-saw, as one fight would go the way of Radiant, another - the way of Dire. Overall, though, Team Empire only had 1 lane left, while our high ground was not broken as of yet. A fight was initiated by Team Empire after the smoke seemed promising for them, but BKBs on the side of NAVI rendered much of the damage output useless, as the Radiant dropped one after another - 4 heroes dead, with almost no buybacks.
NAVI decided it was the time to try and go for the mega creeps, and as we demolished the last remaining barracks of Team Empire on the map, they decided to take it to game 3 - we take the game 2!
Game 3 - Natus Vincere [3:0] Team Empire
Natus Vincere G2A
Team Empire
The third game had plenty of early rotations, just like the previous 2, but this time we managed to stay on top of the scoreboard. Some good fights propelled us even further into the game, Faceless Void was getting close to his Battle Fury, and the situation was looking up for us in general.
NAVI chose to farm up more items, occasionally taking fights. Even if some fights did not go as well as we would have liked, we were still in a fairly comfortable poisitions, with lots of farm secured for the cores, and a decent progression for the supports. 27 minutes in we tried to get Roshan, but the Aegis was snatched by Omniknight, with the subsequent fight taken by Team Empire.
That marked a change in the tempo of the game - teams seemed to be tied, neither getting any decisive kills despite multiple attempts, all the way to minute 34: a great Chronosphere by Crystallize made sure there's no way to save Gyrocopter, and Team Empire fell apart. Right away NAVI approached the enemy high ground, forcing Gyrocopter to buy back, yet still taking the T3. From then on, the game settled down, and both teams went to farm and tried to push.
47 minutes in a fight broke out in our jungle, with a great Chronophere catching both Omniknight and Outworld Devourer, the only saving grace of Team Empire. The final fight took place in Team Empire's base, with the first Chronosphere countered by the Guardian Angel, but the Refresher Shard was there, and the Radiant was not ready for that - Natus Vincere G2A qualify for ESL One Genting 2018!
