Na`Vi edge past CR4ZY to book final playoff berth in Berlin

Natus Vincere came from behind to beat CR4ZY 2-1 and secure the last spot in the playoffs of the StarLadder Major.

It took the Russian team three maps and just as many hours to defeat a stubborn CR4ZY side and save thousands of Pick'ems worldwide. Na`Vi looked uninspired for large portions of the series, but once they clicked into gear, they were simply unstoppable.

After Mirage had been taken by CR4ZY, it looked like Inferno would go the same way, but then Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev finally woke up, avoiding disaster for a Na`Vi side that, up until then, had been relying almost exclusively on Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov, who was a joy to watch the whole series. Nuke ended up being a one-way street and made for an unfitting farewell for the ex-Valiance team, who at one point looked to have one foot in the quarter-finals.

Na`Vi were caught off-guard by CR4ZY's flying start to the match and called their first tactical pause just five rounds into Dust2 as they looked for a way to stop the red-hot Serbians. With electroNic leading the charge, Na`Vi put their foot down to hold back to the CR4ZY offense, but Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković's charges dominated the final stages of the half to secure a 10-5 lead.

CR4ZY carried that momentum into the second half and enlarged their lead after taking the pistol round with a B retake. Na`Vi responded immediately, though, and put the Serbian players against the ropes as they brought the deficit to a minimum. The Russian team were enjoying their best period of the game, but it would all fall apart quickly: CR4ZY remained composed even with their opponents breathing down their necks, and picked up four consecutive rounds en-route to a convincing 16-11 success.

Natus Vincere looked a completely different side during the early stages of Inferno despite almost collapsing to a mid push from CR4ZY in the pistol round before Kirill "⁠Boombl4⁠" Mikhailov and Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko turned a 2v4 situation around. Even with s1mple having a quiet game, Na`Vi took control of proceedings and raced to a 7-1 lead, but they looked deflated and short on solutions for the remainder of the half as CR4ZY battled back to head into half-time down by just one round.

The second half began with CR4ZY taking the pistol round and the following three, piling even more pressure on Na`Vi's players. The two teams then traded blows before a game-changing moment occurred in the 23rd round, when s1mple turned what looked to be a speculative AWP shot into a double kill through a smoke. The Ukrainian prodigy began to hit his shots and rallied the team, who would take the map at 16-12.

With the wind in their sails now, Natus Vincere took control of proceedings from the get-go on Nuke and gave CR4ZY very little room to operate during the first half. Any round that the Serbian team won was immediately countered with a round by Na`Vi, who cruised to a 12-3 lead on the CT side.

After switching to the Terrorist side, Na`Vi further added to their lead by taking the pistol round convincingly. CR4ZY still found a lifeline as they hit back with nothing but pistols, but the CIS giants quickly regained control of proceedings and won the last rounds they needed to win the map and the series.