Na’Vi wins big at ESL One New York as the new champion

Natus Vincere managed to snatch the win at this week’s ESL One big event in New York proving what’s it worth, defeating the world-class team Virtus.Pro and officially hailed as the new champions.

Only four teams could emerge out the five round Swiss format to represent the finals for the tournament. The four teams, Team Liquid, Natus Vincere, SK Gaming, and Virtus.pro. While the Russians played with their old reliable team members Na’Vi had a lot to prove with the new shakeup introducing Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, who turned out to be one of the best players across the tournament.

Virtus opened up the match with a map victory on Cobblestone 16-3, giving Na’Vi a warning sign that they have to do something or they’re out. Na’Vi would return the favor with a dominating effort on train, 16-8, using a combination of superior aim and patient setups. With the combination of s1mple, GuardiaN, and Denis “seized” Kostin, it was a three-headed monster that wreaked havoc.

The final map, Dust II was a back-and-forth action with no clear favorite. Every lead was matched and every clutch round was equalized. On Na’Vi’s side, it was s1mple and GuardiaN leading the way, while VP relied on a balanced attack behind Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski. In the end, Na’Vi took down VP in overtime for the nail-biting victory.

Congratulations, Na’Vi !