3DMAX end NAVI's EWC title defense in Graviti's IGL debut

makazze topping the scoreboard with a 1.26 rating in the three mapper was not enough for NAVI to win.

3DMAX are through to the EWC quarter-finals after upsetting the defending champions, Natus Vincere, 2-1 in the Round of 16 of the single-elimination bracket. Up next for 3DMAX in Riyadh will be The MongolZ, who are fresh off a second-place finish at BLAST Bounty and beat GamerLegion in the opening round of EWC to reach the quarter-finals.

Date	Matches
Esports World Cup 2025
21/08/2025	The MongolZ 16:15 3DMAX	Match

3DMAX came into the tournament with a change in leadership, as AWPing IGL Bryan "⁠Maka⁠" Canda handed calling duties to Filip "⁠Graviti⁠" Brankovic, and the 21-year-old now has his first victory as a caller.

The series kicked off on 3DMAX's Ancient pick, with the Frenchmen getting off to a booming 4-0 start, but the T side fell apart as Drin "⁠makazze⁠" Shaqiri made his presence known with 14 kills and +8.79% Swing as Natus Vincere turned the early deficit to a 7-5 lead.

Natus Vincere also struggled on the attack, however, as a 5-1 start to the half was put into question when 3DMAX won four defenses of their own to break Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen and his men's economy. In the end, a fast play on A with upgraded pistols was enough to secure the map 13-10.

Natus Vincere were in control on their Inferno pick, taking a comfortable 8-4 lead on the attack, but completely fell apart after winning the second pistols as they lost the second round and 3DMAX went on a tear on the attack, winning nine straight with a fantastic Maka, who showed his best unburdened by the weight of calling to even the series up 1-1.

That lack of killer instinct came back to haunt Natus Vincere on Nuke, as struggles on the T side of the map, which were already on display in Cologne, crept up again as 3DMAX put up a wall and turned an early 0-3 deficit into an 8-4 lead at the half.

makazze once again showed his best as Natus Vincere got off to a hot start on the defense to take the lead, 9-8, but from there on out the favorites deflated. With 11-11 on the scoreboard and the match on the line, 3DMAX struck first, hitting match point, and then turned a 2vs4 around in the final round of regulation to take the series and move on to the quarter-finals.