NAVI beat 9INE 2-1 to close StarSeries Fall day one

StarLadder's first event since 2019 began with no big upsets on day one.

iM had a series to forget versus 9INE

A twelve-hour-long day one has concluded at StarSeries Fall after Natus Vincere came back from a map one defeat to beat 9INE 2-1.

Elsewhere in the openers, PARIVISION survived a Artem "⁠kensizor⁠" Kapran 1v5 ninja defuse to beat B8 2-0 before Ninjas in Pyjamas won over OG and Passion UA overcame Gentle Mates.

Date Matches
StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025
18/09/2025
Finished
0:2
Match
18/09/2025
Finished
2:0
Match
18/09/2025
Finished
2:0
Match

But the big story was saved for last, with Natus Vincere handed a humbling on 9INE's pick of Ancient as Danny "⁠BERRY⁠" Krüger's squad ran out 13-8 winners.

NAVI responded in kind on their pick of Nuke despite some technical issues at half-time, but were error-strewn on Inferno as the decider rumbled past 23:00 local time.

A loss to a full USP eco in round five was a memorable example of the team failing to click fully into gear, but Natus Vincere recovered to 6-6 after a nice Ihor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov 1v2 clutch before an eventual 13-8 victory.

Clip: NAVI fumble against USPs early on Inferno

Natus Vincere, the only top 20 team in attendance, are in Budapest looking for a confidence boost (as well as to show support to fellow Ukrainian business StarLadder) after failing to win a trophy so far this year.

2024's team of the year added Drin "⁠makazze⁠" Shaqiri over the summer but the young blood has not been able to halt the squad's malaise with poor finishes at the Esports World Cup and online for BLAST Bounty and Open in their last three events.

Read more
B1ad3: "The Major will be our exam"

Andrey "⁠B1ad3⁠" Gorodenskiy told Natus Vincere's YouTube channel that "the Major will be our exam" and a top-four finish in Cologne was proof of the potential of the new lineup.

But in terms of exam preparation, scraping past world number 31 9INE — with Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan in particularly poor form, at a 0.67 rating — is less than ideal. Passion UA await in the next round, and would be forgiven for smelling blood in the water.

Matchpage
2
1
18th September 2025
8
Ancient
13
13
Nuke
4
13
Inferno
8

Tomorrow, four more best-of-threes will take place starting at 11:00 with two teams facing elimination.

Date Matches
StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025
19/09/2025
11:00
Match
19/09/2025
14:05
Match
19/09/2025
16:15
Match
19/09/2025
18:20
Match
Romania Mihai 'iM' Ivan
Mihai 'iM' Ivan
Age:
26
Rating 1.0:
1.05
Maps played:
1275
KPR:
0.73
DPR:
0.69
Kosovo Drin 'makazze' Shaqiri
Drin 'makazze' Shaqiri
Age:
18
Rating 1.0:
1.05
Maps played:
424
KPR:
0.74
DPR:
0.71
Time is adjusted to your selected timezone
Ukraine Artem 'kensizor' Kapran
Artem 'kensizor' Kapran
Age:
19
Team:
Rating 1.0:
1.04
Maps played:
453
KPR:
0.73
DPR:
0.70
Ukraine Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov
Ihor 'w0nderful' Zhdanov
Age:
20
Rating 1.0:
1.15
Maps played:
700
KPR:
0.75
DPR:
0.58
#2
rain | 
Germany Neutra1
0M so bad
2025-09-18 23:24
7
iM it's time to learn Chinese. Struggling against 9INE is crazy.
2025-09-18 23:25
44
#4
 | 
Austria Lilkeibsn
Navi should -IM -wonderful, +device +frozen,
2025-09-18 23:27
5
10 replies
#16
Faceit level 7  | 
device | 
Denmark ZaerdnaOG
Dont think Astralis is letting go of Device any time soon
2025-09-19 01:18
7
wonderful is not bad rifle
2025-09-19 01:39
0
#20
Faceit plus user Faceit level 10  | 
 | 
North America unban_forsaken
frozen b1t same team sounds questionable
2025-09-19 03:45
3
2 replies
#21
Faceit level 7  | 
zesty | 
Indonesia Xaphn1x
kinda gives me 2024 faze vibes with frozen ropz all over again
2025-09-19 03:58
0
1 reply
hasnt b1t played essentially anchor and star roles too? i think hes pretty viable he could likely change 4 sure if frozen were to come in but doesnt seem like its happening either way lol
2025-09-19 09:48
1
why -w0nderful +dev1ce? ihor seems to be doing better currently even cause devve is missing hella shots too lol never mind that hes like 10 years older lmao
2025-09-19 09:47
0
4 replies
#39
 | 
Austria Lilkeibsn
Cause devve would fit the system better i feel like
2025-09-19 11:12
0
3 replies
how??
2025-09-19 12:54
0
2 replies
#44
 | 
Austria Lilkeibsn
his playstyle would fit better into blades system. devve is like the perfect example awper. reliable. consistent. not too flashy. W0nderful should be a star awper hitting wild flicks but not forced into a system where this isnt needed
2025-09-19 13:20
0
1 reply
he isnt really all of that anymore tho nevermind the question if hed want that lol
2025-09-19 14:13
0
#5
 | 
Sweden Vrede
-iM this time?
2025-09-18 23:27
8
2 replies
yh, after every game, hltv be like - anyone who played bad that day. :D
2025-09-19 10:08
0
1 reply
#42
 | 
Sweden Vrede
lol bro no, it's time.. Navi dont need second caller. its enough
2025-09-19 13:03
0
#6
 | 
Timor-Leste be59
Navi dont really have much to gain from playing this tournament do they. They just risk embarassment if they even were to drop one game against this much lower opposition. Every single other team here was outside of the major invite zone before the tournament started and they will all be fighting tooth and neck over the lan wins they can get here. This feels like a super risky tournament for them to play in, high risk, low reward.
2025-09-18 23:29
1
5 replies
#8
 | 
Latvia Bouncy2370
they will get a ton of vrs from this tournament
2025-09-18 23:41
4
3 replies
#10
 | 
Timor-Leste be59
But why do they care. It's not like they're at the risk of not getting invites unless they were to bomb out last place of multiple tournaments which I think is unlikely.
2025-09-18 23:44
0
2 replies
#13
 | 
Latvia Bouncy2370
blade answers this in the big 1-hour interview. makazze needs more time to get used to the team, and makazze also needs some officials to work on his stamina and pacing himself. so blade signed the team up on some chill evens (starladder, thunderpick) for kind-of free vrs and to practice. basically, he sees major as the first "real" event for this roster.
2025-09-19 00:20
7
they have been bombing out the past 3 events essentially and theres no real way of telling if that would have continued a trophy is also just still a trophy this should be kinda free and pretty big likely too at the same time unless they somehow fumble ungodly lol also the one hour interview mentioned was also summarized in a recent article here (like 2 days ago lmao)
2025-09-19 13:06
0
Dont know if they care about ”embarrasment” Hltv nicknames clling them out propably wont affect them onw bit, no matter what happens
2025-09-19 00:35
1
navi will dab on all the haters
2025-09-18 23:32
2
The tech pauses in this first day were crazy.
2025-09-18 23:43
4
iM masterclass
2025-09-18 23:52
2
3 replies
#15
Cooper | 
Europe kuu1
Yeah, he was mainly doing the info plays, leaving the fragging to his colleagues.
2025-09-19 00:36
0
2 replies
Yup he called stuff like hey guys i found a nade... under me, oh i also found a bullet... inside me..
2025-09-19 04:27
2
#28
 | 
Finland Anterob
He honestly played like idiot, did some stupid peeks or lurks and died without teammates able to trade. Im not even im hater but he was trash
2025-09-19 06:47
0
sign frozen already
2025-09-19 00:08
2
1 reply
Please dont, everything touched by ukrainians lately goes to shit
2025-09-19 04:23
3
#18
Faceit premium user Faceit level 9  | 
United States dkota
bench frozen
2025-09-19 01:59
0
they lost ancient? Ahahahahahahah tier2
2025-09-19 02:39
1
both Fissure and Starladder on Kick, this is crazy
2025-09-19 03:59
2
3 replies
Not really. Kick likely offered money, YouTube and Twitch dont really care about a tier 2 CS tournament.
2025-09-19 05:48
0
2 replies
you don't think the Budapest major is also gonna be streamed only on Kick since it's by Starladder as well?
2025-09-19 06:39
2
1 reply
It might, but it may not. Major is big enough to warrant multiplatform stream.
2025-09-19 09:27
0
Wooooooooooooooow legacy team barely made it past noname team LETS MAKE A HEADLINE ABOUT IT,
2025-09-19 04:22
3
tier 2 boyz
2025-09-19 06:51
0
Seems like majority of tournaments are streamed in Kick. Anyone know Why? Dont need the "I assume" answers... Kick is not ready yet. The app is autoswitching between A and B stream and so on. Money sure one reason, but does not seem logic to switch to lower quality platform. Say what you want about Twitch, but it's a solid Streaming platform with very little issues. ANyone else having the same issues? As there is also the possibility that the problem exists between my chair and keyboard also =)
2025-09-19 08:54
1
4 replies
#34
Cooper | 
Europe kuu1
For me Kick is better than Twitch but worse than YouTube. It is just my opinion, off course and I am curious why do you believe Twitch would be better.
2025-09-19 09:52
1
they pay the organizer that why, use a little of your brain buddy. they might tell fissure something like we will pay whether DotA or CS prize pool for you for the next 3 or 4 years, all you have to do is give us streaming deal (pretty sure they got whole better money) you think fissure gonna deny it?
2025-09-19 09:52
0
I had the same problem but when i changed my chair everything went smooth from that point and onward. So, the problem is definitely with your chair.
2025-09-19 09:54
1
#40
 | 
Finland Tusku
i survived the facebook streaming era, so kick is nothing. (i wish every event was on youtube)
2025-09-19 11:28
0
Its t2 or t3 tournament?
2025-09-19 09:55
0
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