s1mple shines as Natus Vincere eliminate MAD Lions from DreamHack Masters Spring

Natus Vincere beat MAD Lions convincingly in a two-map series to move on to the next round of the DreamHack Masters Spring lower bracket.

After topping Group D with a 2-1 record and getting a berth into the DreamHack Masters Spring upper bracket semi-finals, Natus Vincere were knocked down to lower bracket by G2, who went on to become the first team to make it to the tournament’s grand final. The Russian side didn’t lose steam despite the upper bracket loss to the French team, however, as they asserted dominance against MAD Lions in their lower bracket match early on, crushing the Danes on their map pick before bagging the series in two maps.

Natus Vincere got off to a flying start on Mirage, winning the first six rounds on the defending side. Frederik "⁠acoR⁠" Gyldstrand and Lucas "⁠Bubzkji⁠" Andersen were able to win a 2vs3 on a half-buy, with the latter getting a triple in the round to get MAD Lions on the board. The Danes were able to get a second, but with Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov popping off on the other side, it was NAVI who cruised to a comfortable 11-4 half.

A triple by s1mple in a 3vs4 situation in the pistol round pushed Natus Vincere ever closer to bagging their rival’s map pick. Three desert eagle kills the following round weren’t enough for MAD Lions to turn things around, as Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev won a crucial 1vs1 to keep his team steadily ahead, 14-4. The Danish squad got in one solitary half, but it was NAVI who glided to the 16-round mark to go up 1-0 in the series.

Natus Vincere were back on the warpath on Overpass, where they won the first pistol round on the attacking side as Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy and s1mple downed all five CTs, but MAD Lions were able to stop the bleeding by winning the following forcebuy. The Danes then took a 3-1 lead, but were unable to hold onto it as Natus Vincere got back ahead once rifles were in play. The two teams then went neck-and-neck until the end of the half, but it was finally NAVI who closed it down 8-7.

Perfecto put up another three kills in the second pistol round as Natus Vincere stopped a B push. The CIS side then hit double digits against an eco, going up 10-7. Taking the first gun round, NAVI closed in on match point. Down 7-15, MAD Lions were able to plant on B in a 3vs3 situation, but were quickly run over by the CTs who retook the site as Natus Vincere closed the map and series to secure a spot in the next round of lower bracket play.