Natus Vincere punched their ticket to the Semi Finals of the PGL Antwerp Major with a hard fought victory over Heroic in the quarter finals. They completed the comeback after losing Inferno and being down 0-1.
Things looked shaky on Ancient as well but the trio of s1mple, electronic and b1t helped them to a close 16-14 win. Nuke was a cakewalk as they showed glimpses of 2021 again and shut the doubters up.
They will not take on ENCE in the semi finals tomorrow for a shot at the Grand Finals. The other semi final will be between FaZe Clan and Team Spirit.
MAP VETO
1. Heroic removed Dust2
2. Natus Vincere removed Vertigo
3. Heroic picked Inferno
4. Natus Vincere picked Ancient
5. Natus Vincere removed Overpass
6. Heroic removed Mirage
7. Nuke was left over
MAP 1 – Inferno
- NaVi 10-16 Heroic
- MAP 2 – Ancient
- NaVi 16-14 Heroic
- MAP 3 – Nuke
- NaVi 16-8 Heroic
Heroic started the proceedings on their pick of Inferno but NaVi chose to start on the T side. They got off to a pistol win but the danes quickly shut them down with five of their own.
NaVi couldn’t string more than 2 rounds together, as Heroic had good reads throughout and stopped NaVi at 9-6.
After the switch NaVi looked in the driver’s seat winning 4 of the first 5. But heroic turned the gears, spearheaded by clutches from TeSeS first.
Then another from IGL cadiaN to secure match point.
They secured the map 16-10 with ease, as we moved to Ancient.
NaVi picked into Ancient, a map they hadnt lost since September 2021 and started on the T side. A player for big games, electronic stepped up massively for them on the offense. The CIS side won 5 of the first 7 rounds and were in prime position for a stomp. The tear didnt stop as they ended the half with a 9-6 scoreline, courtesy of a brilliant 1v3 from electronic in the dying embers.
But heroic had their own fiery T side, starting off with 5 on the trot before NaVi put up a defence. Being down 11-9, NaVi’s superstars showed up with s1mple, b1t and electronic helping them to 15-12. cadiaN and co. tried their best but at 15-14, they crumbled and lost 16-14 to go to a third map.
With Nuke as the decider, it was all down to a map which was essentially a Bo1. NaVi started on the favoured CT side. NaVi took us back to 2021 with a demonstration of their insurmountable defence. electronic once again showed us why he’s considered a top 5 player as he helped NaVi to 12 CT rounds, racking up 24 kills on his own. s1mple wasn’t even needed as him and b1t put an end to every Heroic attempt.
The T side started with a pistol loss then a force buy win for NaVi as they sat 14-4 up.
The Danish side tired to mount somewhat of a comeback with 4 on the trot, but NaVi only needed two and they did their due diligence to close out Nuke 16-8.
Natus Vincere will play ENCE tomorrow in the semis of the PGL Antwerp Major to book a spot at a second consecutive Major Grand Final. Heroic go home in 5-8th position from PGL Antwerp Major alongside Ninjas in Pyjamas, FURIA and Copenhagen Flames and take home $35,000.
