NAVI fall at the final PARIVISION-shaped hurdle - ESL Pro League S24
Our hopes were low for NAVI coming into this event, but we'd just started to believe again.
Wins over G2 and 9z, as well as taking a map off of Falcons and Vitality made us think they were back to their best; those are results befitting a team of their quality, and we really thought they'd outlast an admittedly tricky PARIVISION team, but Jame has taken yet another scalp.
The guy just loves winning long series against good teams in the most perverse way. He is a FREAK.
PARIVISION made the decision to add some experience to the team with HObbit and FL1T, and it seems to be working. As much as we liked BELCHONOKK, this does look like a more battle-hardened version of the team who are more capable of winning these long, drawn-out games through sheer mental fortitude. It's what Jame has always done, and probably always will.
FL1T and xiELO were the catalysts for the reverse sweep, after iM had powered NAVI to a first map win on Inferno. xiELO was terrific throughout, and reminded us all of how good he can be with a solid team around him. He completely outclassed makazze, which might come as a surprise, but it's true.
PARIVISION hit eight first half rounds back-to-back after Inferno, first on the CT side of Cache and then the T side of Mirage, neither of which are massively favoured. FL1T was ridiculous on the defence on Cache, collecting 15 kills and shutting down anything NAVI wanted to do.
Ultimately, though NAVI made a fist of it on both maps, PARIVISION are the last team you'd want to be trying to mount a comeback against. Maybe not quite the last, but you know what we mean. They don't tilt, don't crumble, and just make every round a miserable experience.
NAVI miss out on playoffs despite looking much better - but they're not the first and won't be the last to get tripped up by Virtus.Pro 2.
Spirit will be in playoffs - but if they'd have lost to M80 we'd have had serious questions.
Having seen M80 play multiple times this event and never look convincing, we would have real concerns if this was anything less than a clean 2-0. M80 lost a map from 7-2 up against Legacy with their analyst playing, and dropped a map to TYLOO in their wins. Imagine what their losses looked like.
Fortunately, Spirit did beat them 2-0, with only a little bit of jeopardy. Dust 2 was a simple win as they rolled over M80's paperweight defence for nine and closed it out quite quickly on the CT side, but M80 rallied on Cache (the one map they have looked genuinely very good on) to put up an eight round first half and have Spirit on the ropes.
Two of Spirit's four rounds came from clutches too, with a mind-blowing 1v4 from magixx (in more ways than one) keeping Spirit in the map at all.
Spirit's CT side was, however, just too strong for M80. Their firepower issues are so apparent at this level. M80 can tactically match a lot of very good teams, but man for man they just lose their duels far too often. Ironically, they're the least American team around. They're very German. Almost like their IGL is German.
We're still not sold on Spirit, not least as donk's form has been extremely patchy at this event. They'll need him in the playoffs, for sure.
FURIA assuaged any fears that they were completely out of sorts with an incredibly dominant win over 9z.
Legacy might be on top at the moment in the region, but FURIA were not about to let anyone else above them, not least a non-Brazilian team. They absolutely smashed 9z, with molodoy playing out of his skin.
He dropped 36 in a quick 2-0 and rammed his big green gun down the throats of every South American fan who dared to believe 9z could win. He was everywhere, so fast, so accurate, and just relentless.
luchov looked like the breakout star of the first half of the year, but his fall-off in the last few months has been fast and hard. He was lost in the server today, completely out of his depth, and we're not sure quite what has happened to him.
Nuke was a one-sided map, and Inferno was a total blowout. This was 9z's shot at playoffs, and they never really showed up at all. FURIA won't play an easier game of Counter-Strike this year.
