NAVI advanced to the playoffs of the ESL Pro League Season 23, beating 3DMAX by a 2-1 scoreline. Coming into the game as heavy favourites, NAVI unexpectedly dropped the second map before another dominant display on Ancient to send 3DMAX out of the event.
VETO
- 3DMAX removed Mirage
- Natus Vincere removed Overpass
- 3DMAX picked Dust2
- Natus Vincere picked Inferno
- 3DMAX removed Anubis
- Natus Vincere removed Nuke
- Ancient was left over
Map 1: Dust2; Pick: 3DMAX; Winner: NAVI
NAVI hit the board in the second round as 3DMAX lost to a force-buy after winning the first round. Breaking 3DMAX’s economy, NAVI steamrolled their offense for the better part of the first half as the French side only managed to win 3 rounds before switching sides. Just like the first half, 3DMAX failed to convert the second round after winning the pistol. With little effort, NAVI raced to the finish line while letting only one round go the other way. W0nderful‘s high-impact AWPing stood tall against 3DMAX to go ahead in the series with a 13-5 win.
Map 2: Inferno; Pick: NAVI; Winner: 3DMAX
A 3-0 start for 3DMAX helped recover from the poor performance on the first map. Without letting NAVI take too many rounds, 3DMAX did not allow anything to go NAVI’s way except for a 4-round streak that they put together. Switching sides with an 8-4 lead, 3DMAX dropped the pistol but managed to convert the force buy to go back to their winning ways. With their first round of the T side on the board, they posted a flawless half and closed the map with a dominant scoreline. Returning the favour from the first map, 3DMAX’s 13-5 win took the series to the third and final map.
Map 3: Ancient; Pick: Decider; Winner: NAVI
A 5-1 start for NAVI shows why Ancient has been their strongest map in recent history. With 3DMAX playing chase right from the start of the final map, NAVI’s early lead stopped them from levelling the scoreline, but they did manage to get close with 5 rounds while NAVI had 7 before switching sides. Starting their second half with a pistol win, NAVI’s defense stood strong enough to prevent 3DMAX from getting a single round on the board and closed with a flawless and dominant half to qualify for the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 23.
3DMAX’s improvements after adding Misutaa are clear, but their defense has let them down big time. It goes without saying that they will take a lot of lessons from the ESL Pro League and will be a force to be reckoned with if they can get the best out of Misutaa.
