Meta Monday: NAVI's perfectly timed push catches G2 off-guard

NAVI set up a bold play in the first gun round on Nuke in the EWC grand final as they fought back after an overtime loss in the series' opening map.

The second map of the Esports World Cup final between Natus Vincere and G2 became a pivotal moment for the Ukrainian organization in their quest to lift the trophy as they sought to bring the match back to even on Nuke after letting Ancient slip between their fingers in overtime.

To set the pace early on their map pick after going up 3-0 on the T side, Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen and his men decided on a gutsy play in the first proper buy round — abusing Squeaky in a quick well-timed A hit —, which worked out and kept momentum on their side.

Conditioning G2

Natus Vincere rarely abused the A site door on the first buy round in previous matches, which made their bold choice to hit early on in the grand final unpredictable.

The action begins with Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov dropping his smoke next to the stairs near T spawn. Two crucial events that eventually shaped G2’s setups in the round then unfold. On the one hand, Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan throws a smoke outside, next to Red, making it difficult for the CTs to know if someone is trying to sneak past it.

Simultaneously, the rest of the team begin to apply pressure on the A site, suggesting that they might be about to launch an attack there. The combination of two mollies on top and in front of Hut prevents the CTs from swinging and checking what is happening. Additionally, the smoke on Main isolates Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač, who just spams through it.

The conditioning works

The molly Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač threw in Squeaky at the beginning of the round is about to run out and G2 don't have a clue of what is going on. NiKo begins to worry about someone possibly lurking outside, Ilya "⁠m0NESY⁠" Osipov starts to rotate — probably to help outside —, and huNter- takes his utility out to block the gap in Squeaky.

The perfect time to push

Meanwhile, iM is on his way back from Yard and grabs the smoke dropped by w0nderful at the beginning of the round to reload the smoke in Main. The timing is perfect; the CT molly on Squeaky is no longer there, the CTs are rotating back away from A, and Natus Vincere’s main pack are prepared for the push.

w0nderful, taking over the supportive duties, starts flashing the A site from Roof while Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius and Aleksib head out onto the site and Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy waits patiently in Hut for the perfect moment to help his teammates. When the hit comes, the two nearest defenders, Janusz "⁠Snax⁠" Pogorzelski and huNter- — the latter still scrambling to pull out his rifle after smoking Squeaky —, are blind and unable to react in time.

m0NESY turns around to get back to A, but by the time he manages to do so, it's too late. NiKo is shot through the smoke in Main and dies, the bomb is planted shortly after, and Natus Vincere has full control of the site in the post-plant situation. With the courage of calling an A push in the first buy round with AKs, Natus Vincere set up the perfect conditions in the early rounds of Nuke to go on to win their pick and force a decider map.