NAVI claim StarSeries Fall title over NIP

NAVI shrugged off prior poor form to deliver on their status as favorites in Budapest.

Natus Vincere have secured the StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025 title thanks to a 2-0 victory over Ninjas in Pyjamas, taking their opponents down on Nuke (13-7) and Inferno (13-10).

Prior to their arrival at StarSeries Natus Vincere had been enduring a difficult spell, memories of their promising start to life with Drin "⁠makazze⁠" Shaqiri at IEM Cologne quickly fading into the distance.

Natus Vincere followed up their top-four finish in Germany with early exits from BLAST Bounty, Esports World Cup and BLAST Open London, racking up a 2-4 series record that included losses at the hands of M80, Astralis and 3DMAX.

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iM: "It doesn't matter if it's higher opponents or lower opponents, we just need to get some wins"

During their run in Budapest the noise from the Natus Vincere camp emphasised the value of this tournament, which they entered as heavy favorites, was in the confidence it could build for the squad, with Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan telling HLTV his team "just needed to get some wins." After a rocky start against 9INE, they racked up victories without dropping a single map.

A strong start on the CT side of Nuke kicked off this series for Natus Vincere, and whilst Ninjas in Pyjamas enjoyed a mini-revival mid-way through their offense efforts, Natus Vincere headed into half-time with a 7-5 lead.

NAVI fumble the anti-eco to ewjerkz's Deagle

Ninjas in Pyjamas won the pistol to open their own defensive half but lost to a force-buy immediately, granting Natus Vincere control of proceedings which they never relinquished, earning them a 1-0 series lead.

Inferno was a far tighter affair, with Ninjas in Pyjamas's star duo of Kacper "⁠xKacpersky⁠" Gabara and Artem "⁠r1nkle⁠" Moroz in blistering form on the defensive half, forcing Natus Vincere to settle for a measly three T rounds.

iM's three-man spraydown saves the round

Natus Vincere were not to be denied, however, erecting a defensive wall that Ninjas in Pyjamas just couldn't break, with Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer and company repeatedly bashing their heads into said wall on the B site in particular.

When Ninjas in Pyjamas did find traction, Natus Vincere had an individual player come up with an answer, iM providing the pick of the highlights as his team marched to victory.