BLAST Premier World Final 2023NAVI send ENCE home in last place after game of comebacks
ENCE came back from 10-2 down on Ancient only to squander an 11-5 lead of their own on the Nuke decider.
ENCE are out of the BLAST World Final after a thrilling three-map series against Natus Vincere decided on Anubis (4-13), Ancient (13-11), and Nuke (11-13).
Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander's side is under heavy scrutiny after a report linked Pavle "Maden" Bošković, Guy "NertZ" Iluz, and Álvaro "SunPayus" García to HEROIC, and for the first three halves of the series they looked like a team ready for their Christmas holidays.
"It's not about anyone, it's about the team," NertZ told James "BanKs" Banks after the match. "We are trying to understand what is happening, some things out of the server are affecting us. And I hope it will be fixed soon."
Natus Vincere, after a convincing 13-4 victory on their pick of Anubis, were sauntering towards the playoffs and seemed to have it guaranteed when they reached double digits in the first half of map two.
"It is very confusing for us," Maden said pre-game. "gla1ve is trying to fit our playstyle but also trying some new things he likes to do, but overall I don't think we are yet on the same page. It takes a lot of time when you change a coach and IGL."
Nonetheless, ENCE rallied at half-time on Ancient after an uninspiring Natus Vincere T side left the door open. Flashes of brilliance from SunPayus and NertZ were reminders of the side's potential, and NAVI had no answer as they slumped from 10-2 up to an 11-13 defeat.
On Nuke, it was now Natus Vincere struggling mentally. Shellshocked by the Ancient comeback, they went down 5-0 and gla1ve started to come into his own as he called a stellar T half for ENCE.
After converting the second pistol, ENCE were up 10-4 and their atmosphere had lifted. But, like on Ancient, complacency bit back.
Natus Vincere slowly crept their way back in, as Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen redeemed himself from the appalling T half on Ancient to put together a nine-round streak of T rounds on Nuke.
SunPayus appeared to have jolted ENCE into life halfway through that streak with a stunning wallbang, but in a microcosm of the match, Natus Vincere stood tall to convert a 2vs4 post-plant and break ENCE's hearts.
From there it was more of the same from Natus Vincere, who were one step ahead of ENCE throughout their comeback and ensured it is their opponents who will go into the winter break desolate.
 ENCE |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 - 41 | -1.06% | 72.6 | 72.3% | 1.04 | |
| 43 - 42 | +0.15% | 70.4 | 70.8% | 1.03 | |
| 37 - 46 | -2.11% | 72.0 | 61.5% | 0.95 | |
| 41 - 45 | -0.84% | 63.6 | 69.2% | 0.88 | |
| 42 - 51 | -1.34% | 64.5 | 61.5% | 0.84 |
 Natus Vincere |
K - D | Swing | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 47 - 34 | +3.52% | 68.5 | 78.5% | 1.18 | |
| 44 - 41 | +2.15% | 78.5 | 73.8% | 1.17 | |
| 43 - 41 | +0.84% | 78.6 | 69.2% | 1.10 | |
| 46 - 46 | -0.21% | 83.7 | 63.1% | 1.10 | |
| 44 - 42 | -1.10% | 61.2 | 66.2% | 0.98 |
Natus Vincere will now turn their attention to a quarter-final on Friday against the loser of FaZe against G2 in Group B.
| Date | Matches | |
|---|---|---|
| BLAST Premier World Final 2023 | ||
| 15/12/2023 |
12:05
|
Match |
Håvard 'rain' Nygaard
David 'frozen' Čerňanský
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Helvijs 'broky' Saukants
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
Nemanja 'nexa' Isaković
Ilya 'm0NESY' Osipov
Jan 'Swani' Müller
Richard 'Xizt' Landström
MIBR_IS_BAD
| 
| 
d1zzy_b
CoastFF
