NAVI punch ticket to IEM Cologne semi-finals over SAW

B1ad3's men ended SAW's reign of terror in the Group A upper bracket to secure a spot in the semis.

Natus Vincere came back from a 0-1 deficit in the series after losing SAW's Nuke pick to win 2-1 on Ancient and Inferno. The victory secures Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen and his men's passage straight to the IEM Cologne semi-finals, while SAW will start their playoff run in the quarters.

"We were a bit sleepy [in the first map], we didn't communicate right," Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov said in the broadcast's post-match interview.

"In the second map we woke up," he added with a smile. "Did you see?"

SAW's confidence was high going into the opening map of the series, Nuke, as they came from beating G2 and The MongolZ on it in their two first Group A upper bracket victories. A sleepy Natus Vincere were the perfect target for the Portuguese squad.

Without the pressure of the previous matches, they once again showed their prowess on the map with a fantastic eight rounds on the T side despite not winning the pistols. The early boom was in large part thanks to a clutch by João "⁠story⁠" Vieira in the sixth round that put Natus Vincere in a complicated situation.

Any thoughts of a sweep were swiftly put to bed on Ancient, Natus Vincere's pick. A wild 4-2 start ended when Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy won a massive 1vs4 clutch on the attack to get his team ahead and break the Portuguese side's back. Christopher "⁠MUTiRiS⁠" Fernandes and company not only didn't recover, but they didn't post another round as Natus Vincere took it 13-2.

The classic of classics decided it: Inferno. SAW and Natus Vincere were neck-and-neck in the first half, with Aleksib and company leading by only two at the half before going on the attack. In the end, that two round buffer proved to be plenty as Natus Vincere went on a tear and closed out the map 16-3 to claim their spot in the semis.

w0nderful, who had not been as sharp as usual in the first rounds of the tournament, was back to his best and only trailed b1t in the box score as the two topped the charts with impressive 1.43 and 1.42 ratings in the series.