NAVI breeze past Apeks to qualify for EPL playoffs

Natus Vincere dominated the series to set up a potential upper bracket bout with FaZe.

Natus Vincere strolled to a quick 2-0 victory over Apeks to earn an ESL Pro League playoff berth at the first time of asking, grabbing simple wins on Anubis (16-7) and Inferno (16-5).

Apeks were completely outclassed on both maps, particularly struggling with the potent offense Natus Vincere brought to the table. Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev and Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy were in fine form to help their team brush off any doubts that might have been lingering after a slightly labored opening victory over 5yclone.

Natus Vincere now have an upper bracket bout for playoff seeding to look forward to, where the tantalizing prospect of a match against FaZe awaits them, should FaZe beat fnatic. As for Apeks, they head down to the lower bracket to take on the winner of 9z vs Imperial.

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 18
15/09/2023	Apeks 19:30 Imperial	Match
17/09/2023	Natus Vincere 16:00 FaZe	Match

The series opened on Apeks’ map choice of Anubis, but the European combine were quickly humbled. Natus Vincere kicked off on the T side, and after going 0-2 down quickly asserted their dominance, with s1mple and b1t fragging hard to earn a 10-5 halftime lead. A pistol win ensured Natus Vincere remained in the driver’s seat as the sides switched, and they quickly secured a 16-7 victory.

It was a similar story on Inferno, with Natus Vincere starting the game on the offensive side and running out to a convincing lead, their varied and well-drilled attack completely overwhelming Apeks. b1t and s1mple continued their good form to earn an 11-4 lead heading into the second period, and once again Natus Vincere had no problems closing out the map, this time securing a 16-5 score.