ESL Pro League S8 finals: down into the lower bracket

NAVI drop down into the lower bracket

NAVI.GG.BET played a Bo3 series against  mousesports at ESL Pro League S8 Finals Group B upper bracket semis. The games were tough, as we struggled quite a lot. The Bo3 ends with 0:2 for NAVI.

Nuke - Natus Vincere [6:16] mousesports

The pistol round was taken by  mouz, so we decided to go for a full eco to get the money for the buy. Even the guns didn't salvage the situation, but s1mple managed to save the AWP. mouz continued to take round after round, as even the max loss bonus did very little. The score dropped to 0:6, and NAVI kept trying to beat the opponent to no avail.

Round 9 saw NAVI go for a double AWP setup, and it worked very well for us, as we got the first point on the board. Unfortunately, reset followed right after, which dealt a heavy blow to our economy. The end of the half was a lot more chaotic, as both teams traded frags, with NAVI getting the upper hand. The half ended with 5:10 on the board - even though mouz took it, we still had a fighting chance.

The second pistol was claimed by mouz, and they capitalized on that to increase their lead even further. NAVI was falling behind, hitting 5:14. We were finally able to get good guns and the first point of the half -- 6:14. Unfortunately, mouz pulled off a reset straight away, which could not have come at a worse time, as we were just 1 round away from dropping the map, which happened very soon.

Natus Vincere

Player	Kill/Death	+/-	ADR	Rating
s1mple	15-15	0	65.5	0.99
electronic	14-17	-3	79.1	0.90
flamie	11-18	-7	60.8	0.76
Edward	8-16	-8	54.9	0.70
Zeus	14-19	-5	62.7	0.70

Train - Natus Vincere [4:16] mousesports

The pistols on Train went the way of mouz; we had very little utility next round, which really stalled us in the tracks. mouz continued to take in the points. Even though NAVI were coming pretty close to clutching out some rounds, the lack of utility and subpar guns didn't really let us gain an upper hand. The score hit 0:6, and we were still not quite there. Only when mouz hit 10 points, NAVI claimed their first point in a 1v1 clutch with a bomb planted, but that was it for the first half. mouz went uncontested till the end of the half - 1:14.

The second half started off well for us. NAVI took the pistol, and mouz dropped their eco; clutch by electroNic brought another round home, as we knew any mistake could possibly be fatal. mouz claimed the map point right when they got the guns off of the max loss bonus. All it took was 1 round, as NAVI fall in the Bo3, dropping Train 4:16.

Natus Vincere

Player	Kill/Death	+/-	ADR	Rating
Edward	12-17	-5	70.7	1.01
s1mple	12-19	-7	66.0	0.71
electronic	10-18	-8	55.9	0.47
Zeus	5-17	-12	35.0	0.44
flamie	5-18	-13	40.6	0.34

Overall match stats

Natus Vincere

Player	Kill/Death	+/-	ADR	Rating
s1mple	27-34	-7	65.7	0.85
Edward	20-33	-13	62.4	0.82
electronic	24-35	-11	68.0	0.69
Zeus	19-36	-17	49.5	0.57
flamie	16-36	-20	51.2	0.55