Ukrainian esports team NAVI wins IEM Rio 2024 in epic final
The Ukrainian esports team Natus Vincere (NAVI) has secured a decisive victory against the German organisation MOUZ (ranked 5th) in the final of IEM Rio 2024 in the Counter-Strike 2 discipline.
Source: Champion, a sports news platform within Ukrainska Pravda’s holding company
Details: The match was played in a best-of-five (Bo5) format and ended with a 3-1 scoreline in favour of NAVI. The game began on Inferno, MOUZ's map pick, where NAVI started shakily and lost the first half. However, after switching sides, NAVI made a strong comeback and claimed victory.
Next was Dust2, NAVI’s pick, where they dominated their opponents, allowing MOUZ only two rounds, shifting the match to Mirage. This map was more balanced, with the German team initially taking the lead. Although the match remained close, NAVI struggled in critical moments, particularly missing key shots from their sniper, Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov.
Everything was decided on Ancient, where MOUZ appeared to be on the verge of victory again, leading 10-2. However, NAVI made an incredible comeback, securing the win and lifting the Rio trophy.
NAVI earned US$100,000 and a spot in IEM Katowice 2025 for their victory. This marked their sixth consecutive final, bringing them closer to their own record of seven consecutive finals in 2021. They are also nearing the achievement of FaZe from 2023-24, who reached eight finals in a row.
Notably, NAVI continued an interesting pattern after this win: they have won every other final match, meaning they alternate between winning and losing in their last decisive games.
Natus Vincere consists of two Ukrainians, a Lithuanian, a Romanian and a Finn:
- Valerii "b1t" Vakhovskyi (Ukraine);
- Justinas "jL" Lekavičius (Lithuania);
- Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen (Finland);
- Mihai "iM" Ivan (Romania);
- Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov (Ukraine);
- Andrii "B1ad3" Horodenskyi (coach, Ukraine).
Background: NaVi lost in the final of the prestigious BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 tournament held in Denmark.
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