Na`Vi over Luminosity to final four

The final playoff match of DreamHack Open Cluj-Napoca was a never-before-seen offline match-up: Natus Vincere versus Luminosity Gaming.

With two types of passionate regional playstyles facing off, de_dust2 was predictably chaotic: following a Na`Vi CT pistol round win, Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David picked up three kills on a force buy to equalise the score at 1-1.

The next round saw Na`Vi force-buy in turn, and gave an inkling of what was to become an extraordinary game for Ladislav "⁠GuardiaN⁠" Kovács with the Slovakian player picking up two Deagle kills and breaking Luminosity's economy.

GuardiaN nearly dropped a 40 bomb on dust2

With GuardiaN's AWPing the lynchpin of Na`Vi's CT half, the Eastern European powerhouse began to pull ahead, although on the 11th round Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga nearly pulled off the unthinkable and won a one-versus-five, taking down four Na`Vi players before succumbing.

The half finished 9-6, but it was the Brazilians of Luminosity who opened up the second half with swagger, taking pistol and then going on to win the anti-ecos which included a round where coldzera scored jumping MP7 shots on A site.

However, de_dust2 really was GuardiaN's playground and the star's AWP finesse moved Na`Vi up to match point. A pause and attempt to rally by Luminosity brought the score to 15-14 but an aggressive mid push by Na`Vi sealed the map 16-14 in the yellow-dressed team's favour.

de_overpass saw Luminosity put forward a strong opening sally, winning their CT pistol and taking the first gunround as well to gain an early advantage on the second map of play.

The Brazilians notched the score up to 6-1 before Na`Vi called a pause which immediately brought dividends as Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev & co. began to pick up T-side rounds. Luminosity managed to answer back before the half ended, and the score finished 9-6 to Luminosity's advantage.

Na`Vi seemed down and out at times on both maps, but managed to persevere

Despite Luminosity winning the T-side pistol on overpass, it was Denis "⁠seized⁠" Kostin and his teammates who force-bought in the next round and used pistols to win, reset Luminosity's economy, and begin gaining momentum.

Na`Vi chugged on ahead to a 12-11 scoreline, which forced Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo to call a pause, but such deliberation came to no avail as Na`Vi continued to confidently and aggressively hammer out rounds, ultimately winning 16-13 to advance to the Cluj semifinals.

stich writes for HLTV.org and can be found on Twitter