NiP’s journey at the tournament ends after a loss to NAVI, while the Ukrainian squad — now featuring newcomer makazze — continues their fight for survival in the playoffs. A tense BO3 series delivered comebacks, dominant maps, and standout performances from b1t and w0nderful.
The tournament path
NiP began their run in the Play-in stage, confidently advancing with a 2-0 record after defeating HEROIC and 3DMAX. Upon reaching the main stage, where competition was tougher and opponents stronger, they lost their opening match to the Turkish side Aurora, but managed to beat HEROIC once again, this time 2-0.
NAVI, who received a direct invite to the main stage, debuted with new player makazze in a match against FaZe, securing a convincing 2-0 victory. In their next series versus MOUZ, despite holding early leads on both maps, NAVI were unable to close them out as MOUZ came back and won 2-0.
NiP’s last chance
NiP picked Nuke — a map where they boast an 83% win rate compared to NAVI’s 25%. However, the first half was intense and ended tied at 6:6. On the CT side, NiP looked much more confident and closed out the map 13:9.
On their own pick, Inferno, the Ukrainian squad came out dominant, taking the first half 10:2. In the second half, NAVI finished the job with ease — 13:3.
The decider, Train, started with NAVI taking the first half. NiP came close to forcing overtime, but b1t stepped up at the right moment to shut them down, securing a 13:11 win for NAVI.
Player of the match
Two NAVI players stood out statistically: b1t led the series with 51 kills, while w0nderful had the highest rating — 1.24. Despite the loss, NiP’s xKacpersky recorded the highest ADR in the series — 84.4.
Match recap
NiP exit the tournament in 9–12th place with a $16,000 prize. Although they looked strong in the opening stage, they couldn’t overcome tougher opponents like NAVI and Aurora.
NAVI, meanwhile, will face FaZe again in the lower bracket final. Whether their new addition makazze can handle the pressure of such a crucial match — we’ll find out very soon.
