Sometimes things don't go as we expect them to, and we saw a shining example of that yesterday when NIP qualified for Fall Final by defeating Vitality.
One of the two best teams in the world, it was a massive loss to an underdog, and one that Heroic weren't go to let be recreated in their own Group Final versus NAVI.
With the Danes having now secured their place in the final, how did they get there, and how did their final match versus NAVI play out?
Heroic began their time in Copenhagen with a match against BIG's new team. With two of the new members of that team playing their first tier one tournaments having just been promoted from BIG Academy, Heroic were rightly considered the favourites, and put on a showing deserving of that title. A 2-0 victory, the one-two combo of stavn and TeSeS did most the work, punching holes in BIG's defence and preventing them from ever having a real offence.
The Upper Final, Heroic's first match against NAVI, while closer, it was only by the smallest of margins. 16-9 and 16-10, cadiaN stepped up to partner stavn, shutting down s1mple and showing there was much work still to be done for this new NAVI squadron.
NAVI then fell down into the Consolidation Final, where they would face BIG. Their whole team performed well, but it was s1mple and iM that pushed them through. A 2-0 victory, just as with their opening game against Astralis, it was a glimpse at the talent this roster possesses and the game they could give Heroic should the Danes not show up with their A game.
Having already faced each other once, both teams would enter the Group Final with a better knowledge of what to expect. A knowledge that turned out to be favourable for NAVI, it was enough to win them a map victory, but not victory in the series overall.
Heroic took the first map, Mirage, 16-11. The first superstar performance from jabbi at the event, NAVI were powerless on their CT side as Heroic racked up the 8 rounds they needed to take the game thanks to jabbi's 17 kills.
NAVI responded well, they clutched out Inferno without the need for an overtime. A 16-14 victory, the tide was turned when they won a force buy at 13-11 with a B site hit.
Nuke was to be the decider, and an 11-4 T half saw Heroic start strong to give themselves a good lead to take the series. NAVI would attempt to fight back with eight T rounds of their own, but Heroic got the five rounds they needed and won the map 16-12.
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