Na`Vi take down Astralis to move on to Cologne final

Natus Vincere are through to the grand final at ESL One Cologne after moving past Astralis in a nail-biting three-map series.

Two months and 15 matches later, Astralis have tasted defeat again. The Danish team, who had been beaten the last time on May 6, in the IEM Sydney final, by FaZe, were taken down by a Na`Vi side who looked superior for the majority of the series, with Nuke being the only map where Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander's men looked comfortable.

The Danish team got off to a great start on Overpass, Na`Vi's map pick, taking the pistol round with a team ace after preventing a 1v3 clutch from Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov. Unfazed by that round, the 19-year-old took matters into his own hands and led Na`Vi to a seven-round streak, forcing gla1ve to call a timeout in a bid to halt the Ukrainians' momentum.

The move paid off instantly as Astralis won back-to-back rounds, bringing the deficit to 5-7, but then Natus Vincere regained control of proceedings and closed out the half with a three-round lead.

The second half began with a scrappy yet successful round from Astralis, who found an opening frag on B but then went all the way back to the other site to plant the bomb. After taking both anti-ecos, the Danes took the first full gun round of the half, picking up the lead for the first time since the beginning of the game.

Na`Vi then did the unthinkable and won two of the next three rounds, both times on very low buys. With electroNic and Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev firing on all cylinders, the Ukrainians kept the Terrorists at bay for the remainder of the half, shutting down any chances of Astralis building up an economy, and locking down the map without even needing all 30 rounds.

After such a highly-contested and interesting first map, viewers soon realised that Nuke would be a completely different affair. Now on their own map pick, Astralis came into the game determined to equalise the series, winning seven rounds right off the bat to leave Na`Vi shellshocked.

The Ukrainian team still tried to get back in the game, but every round that they won was immediately countered by Astralis, who got themselves a 10-2 lead. Na`Vi then tightened up their defence and won the final three rounds of the half to keep themselves in it, but their comeback hopes were soon dashed as Astralis further added to their lead after taking the pistol round.

Natus Vincere were able to fire back in the third round with a couple of CZs, but there was no follow-up on their part, though s1mple came inches away from pulling off a miraculous ace. With the control of the economy and a sizeable lead, Astralis ran away with the game and took the series to Inferno.

Na`Vi made a flying start to the decider map, winning four of the first five rounds to put a considerable amount of pressure on the Danish players. The Astralis defence finally switched on, restoring parity at 4-4, but the rest of the half was all about Na`Vi as the Ukrainians, led by captain Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko, who had a crucial 1v2 clutch in the 14th round, cruised to a 10-5 half.

The second half began at a frantic pace, with Na`Vi taking the pistol round, only to get caught off-guard by Astralis' CZs in the following one. The Danish team used that momentum to put together a string of rounds, eventually bringing the deficit to a minimum.

But Natus Vincere would not let the game slip away and denied Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen the ace in the following round. That was the start of a great run from the Ukrainian team, who hit match point on the back of a sensational triple kill from Zeus. With no room for error, Astralis picked up the pace and strung some rounds together in search for overtime, but a successful three-man stack on B from Na`Vi in the 29th round spelt the end of the road for the Danes.