MOUZ beat NAVI to secure top-16 berth at Shanghai Major

xertioN said the win was "semi-revenge" for MOUZ's grand final loss to NAVI in Rio after the match.

MOUZ have qualified for the Elimination Stage of the Perfect World Shanghai Major after completing a reverse-sweep victory over Natus Vincere, recovering from a desolate 4-13 drubbing on their own Mirage pick with comfortable wins on Dust2 (13-8) and Inferno (13-7).

The result makes MOUZ the eleventh team to qualify for the Major overall and first to lock in a top-16 berth, with the winner of FaZe vs. Vitality set to join them.

Reigning Copenhagen Major champions Natus Vincere still have a chance to advance to the top-16 as long as they win their next match, but could be forced to play a fourth-place tiebreaker as only two spots are up for grabs between the three 3-1 teams.

MOUZ will remain in Shanghai until the start of the Elimination Stage, which kicks off on December 5, Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman confirmed in a post-match interview with James "⁠BanKs⁠" Banks. The Israeli rifler also touched on taking down Natus Vincere to qualify, the same team who they lost to 1-3 in the final of IEM Rio in October. "It was semi-revenge," xertioN stated.

Mirage was the sole map that MOUZ won in that final, but picking it here did them no good.

They were humiliated at the start of the series, with a woeful offensive campaign from their individuals leading to a blowout in the first half. Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan held dominion over Connector and Middle, championing an 8-4 half for his side with a 15-6 K-D, and combined with Justinas "⁠jL⁠" Lekavicius to go 9:0 in opening duels in a decimation of MOUZ on their pick, 13-4.

Natus Vincere added a third pistol win to their tally to start Dust2, but a Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo 1v2 breathed life into MOUZ for a seven-round run on the CT side. NAVI recovered to post five at the break, capitalizing on a whiff from Jimpphat on a Long flank, but Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek's timely lurks in Middle and a well-executed game plan from MOUZ —we'll forget about this 10-second defuse, Ádám "⁠torzsi⁠" Torzsás — allowed them to run away with the map in the second half, 13-8.

Jimpphat's excellence continued on the Inferno decider, another 1v2 clutch only piling misery on to NAVI in MOUZ's 9-3 half. Execution was stalled by NAVI's pistol win, which they used to win three more rounds, but MOUZ got back on the horse quickly and Jimpphat closed in heroic fashion, defending A solo with a quad-kill to put his team through to the Major.