NAVI clinch BLAST Premier final spot to set up rematch with Gambit

The tournament decider will be another showdown between the current top two teams in the world.

Natus Vincere earned a spot in the grand final of the BLAST Premier Spring Final following a hard-fought 2-1 victory over G2, earning a shot at redemption against Gambit after a close three-map loss against their CIS rival on Saturday.

In the end, the victory is what counts, but for NAVI, the match must have felt way too close for comfort. After posting a dominant victory on Mirage, NAVI collapsed late in the second half on Dust2 after what analyst Jacob "⁠Pimp⁠" Winneche described as "maybe the worst round I've seen in my entire life at this level". Then they almost let a 15-10 lead on Nuke slip before Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev bailed them out with a massive 1v4 clutch for the map win.

NAVI will now have to dust themselves off and go again in less than an hour as they'll look to set the record straight against Gambit, whom they trounced 3-0 the last time the two teams faced each other in a final, in DreamHack Masters Spring a month ago.

G2 got off on the wrong foot in the series, forcing coach Damien "⁠maLeK⁠" Marcel to call a timeout in the midway point of the first half, when his team was already trailing NAVI by five rounds. The international team then finally managed to get into their rhythm and put some rounds together, reducing the deficit to three rounds before the side switch.

NAVI, who had been led by Ilya "⁠Perfecto⁠" Zalutskiy in the fragging department in the first half (17-7), added to their lead after a chaotic pistol and followed it up with the next two rounds. G2 enjoyed a spell of dominance after buying up, but their joy was short-lived as the CIS giants responded with four consecutive rounds to wrap it up.

Dust2 began in the same manner as the opening map, with NAVI racing into an early lead and G2 looking out of sorts. This time around, the international team responded earlier, tying the score at 4-4, but they were unable to impose their will as NAVI kept the pace high and took a narrow lead into the break, with s1mple leading the charge with 14 frags.

G2 finally managed to get a pistol round on the board with a well-timed A execute, but then they were handed a massive blow as NAVI hit back in the following round with nothing but Desert Eagles. The CIS side used that momentum to add to their lead, with Perfecto shutting down the B site numerous times with multi-kills.

And then things got out of hand. Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković took over the game, going 23-8 in a thrilling second-half performance to lead G2 to an unlikely victory - one that would likely not have been possible without a massive slip-up from NAVI in the 25th round, when they missed the chance to go 14-12 up and inflict serious economic damage on their opponents after shockingly wasting a 5v2 advantage.

NAVI seemed to have composed themselves before the final map as they raced to a 6-2 lead after a bright start to their CT side. But just like on Dust2, the game got away from them in the blink of an eye. G2 established some momentum after a stunning Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač clutch and went on a 5-0 run before the final two rounds of the half went NAVI's way.

The CIS giants moved into a higher gear after switching to the offence, hitting map point at 15-10 after shutting down any chances of their opponents stringing rounds together. G2 still mustered the energy to try to take the game to overtime, only to falter at the final hurdle as s1mple single-handedly put the game away for good with a stunning 1v4 clutch.