NAVI move past 00NATION in Malta to set up Outsiders clash

Natus Vincere now move on to face Outsiders in the round of 12 on Wednesday at 15:30 for a spot in the quarter-finals.

Natus Vincere defeated 00NATION in the final round of 16 clash of ESL Pro League S17. The Ukrainian side narrowly closed out Ancient (16-14) before a lackluster CT side cost them on Overpass (8-16). The decider was Mirage, where Natus Vincere switched around some positions on the CT side. The role changes seem to have improved their play on the map, as they closed out the series with a dominant 16-4 victory.

Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov touched on Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy's new position of A anchor in the post-match interview: "For me, this is the best position for him, I think he will improve even more in the future."

For 00NATION, this is the end of the road at EPL. They surprised many by even making it through the group stage, especially due to the Brazilian side attending the tournament without IGL Epitacio "⁠TACO⁠" de Melo. Their focus now switches to the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 Americas RMR, held in Monterrey, Mexico from April 5-9. TACO will remain on the sidelines for the tournament, so the team will hope for a continuation of their Malta form if they are to secure one of the five Paris Major spots on offer for the Americas region.

00NATION decided to pick Ancient in the series but got off to a slow start, losing out in the opening force-buy wars to find themselves 10-1 down to the Ukrainian side. electroNic racked up 16 kills in an impressive performance, as their proactive CT side was simply too much for 00NATION to handle. The Brazilians did put up a decent recovery towards the end of the half, however, first getting on the board with a B attack facilitated by Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David's entry before stringing five rounds together to go into the second half 5-10 down.

00NATION kept up their momentum into the second half, winning the pistol and following conversion to take the lead for the first time on the map, 11-10. Their economy was in dire straits despite a seven-round winning streak, as Natus Vincere's first T-side round forced 00NATION into two save rounds. Natus Vincere regained their foothold on the map and did just enough to close it out in thirty rounds to save themselves from an upset on their opponent's pick.

Next up was Overpass, and 00NATION got off to a much better start as they won the pistol and weathered the Natus Vincere forcebuys. They kept the lead throughout most of the first half, looking in control of proceedings if we discount Natus Vincere's five-round streak in the middle of the half. coldzera and company kept ahead by winning some close rounds with their economy almost always at breaking point to win the first half 9-6.

Natus Vincere cooled off in the second half and got just two rounds on the defense despite opening with a pistol-round win. Leonardo "⁠n9xtz⁠" Santos answered with a triple-kill in the forcebuy, and 00NATION never looked back after that. They outplayed their opponents with a mixture of slow, methodical plays and occasional fast B rushes to keep Natus Vincere guessing, eventually closing out the map 16-8 to move the series onto a third map.

Natus Vincere started Mirage confidently to go up 5-1 before Lucas "⁠nqz⁠" Soares produced the play of the series in an eco round — an ace that included a 1vs3 clutch. That round broke Natus Vincere's money and allowed the Brazilians to get up to four before Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and company stabilized. b1t won two clutches of his own to keep his team ahead and allow Natus Vincere to close out the half 11-4.

A second-half pistol win for Natus Vincere got them into the driver's seat to close out the map, and the following conversion put them within two rounds of victory. electroNic's double kill on the A attack netted Natus Vincere the first gun round of the half to put their win beyond any doubt, and they closed it out 16-4 to book their ticket in the round of 12 of ESL Pro League S17.