Na`Vi defeat ENCE to secure playoff spot in Cologne

Natus Vincere have secured their place in the ESL One Cologne quarter-finals after beating ENCE 2-1 (14-16 on Dust2, 16-14 on Mirage, and 16-7 on Nuke).

The Group A lower bracket final kicked off on Dust2 with the CT-sided ENCE taking the pistol round. Natus Vincere planted the bomb on the second round and even though they lost that one, they earned enough money to buy weapons in the third round which they won.

Natus Vincere then managed to take the lead (3-2) but ENCE responded with five rounds in a row (7-3). Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev & company decided to return the favor as they themselves went on a five-round streak to lead 8-7 at halftime.

Aleksi "⁠allu⁠" Jalli & Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen's entry kills in the second half pistol round tied the game at 8-8 but Natus Vincere dominated the early stages of the half, going 13-9 ahead. When his team were trailing 13-11, allu clutched a 1vs5 with the AWP, paving the way for ENCE's 16-14 map victory.

ENCE opened up the second map, Mirage, by winning the first five rounds on the CT-side. ENCE's early 6-1 lead evaporated rather quickly as Natus Vincere got going on the T-side and won the half 9-6 following s1mple's quad kill and 1vs2 clutch in the 15th round.

Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko's team secured the first five rounds in the second half, extending their streak to 13 rounds and leading 14-6. However, ENCE didn't get flustered and managed to take the game to the 30th round as they trailed 15-14. A B-rush in the ultimate round didn't work out well for the Finns who lost the map 16-14.

Nuke was the final map and Natus Vincere had a positive start on the T-side, winning the first three rounds thanks to Zeus' eight kills. ENCE responded in the fourth round with a 2vs3 victory but s1mple & Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov returned the favor in the following round with a 2vs4 clutch (4-1).

Natus Vincere finished the first half 9-6 ahead and grabbed the first three rounds in the second half to make it 12-6. The CIS team won the map 16-7 and the series 2-1 to book a quarter-final spot at ESL One Cologne 2018.