NAVI earn IEM Rio semi-finals berth over BIG

The Germans will start their IEM Rio playoff run from the quarter-finals after losing to Natus Vincere in the Group A upper bracket final.

Natus Vincere have locked in a top-four finish at IEM Rio after defeating BIG in a relatively hard-fought two-map affair in the Group A upper bracket final, drawing first blood after two sets of overtime on Mirage (22-20) before wrapping things up in a more convincing fashion on Inferno (16-8).

Natus Vincere, who will begin the IEM Rio playoffs from the semi-finals, have now won 12 out of the last 13 games played, a feat that was touched upon in a post-match interview between James "⁠BanKs⁠" Banks and Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy.

"I think the answer is very simple: it's progress. When you try to fix mistakes, progress is inevitable," B1ad3 commented. "It's a matter of time if you do not destroy everything, ruin everything... You will always, with each day, become better and better and better... What was important for me was to stay in reality, not to overestimate ourselves, and to be patient."

Regardless, Natus Vincere will definitely be examining their Mirage T-side after the series versus the Germans; Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov's men sported a 10-5 lead at the side swap, but were still forced into a grueling double-overtime affair. In the end, NAVI turned to their perpetually brilliant superstar in Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev to get things over the line, with the 25-year-old adding 38 kills over 42 rounds to ensure his team went into their map pick with a 1-0 advantage.

Inferno was a far more straightforward meeting, however, as Natus Vincere quickly raced to a 9-6 lead on the T-side, with electroNic leading by example with 14 kills and a 1.72 rating on the attacking phase. From there, and with an ace from s1mple in hand, it was merely a case of Natus Vincere closing things out, with the Ukrainian-majority lineup conceding just two additional rounds before taking the series home in their favor.

As a result of their win over the Germans, Natus Vincere will begin their IEM Rio playoff campaign from the semi-finals, skipping the quarter-final stage altogether and enjoying an extra day's worth of practice before hopping back in the server.

BIG, meanwhile, will be forced to grind all the way through the playoffs if they're to lift the IEM Rio trophy, with the first quarter-final beginning on Friday at 17:00 .