NAVI clinch third map OT to advance to playoffs
NAVI have looked far better in Austin than they've shown for the most of the year, and although it got a little messy at the end, that upturn in form has seen them advance to the BLAST.tv Austin Major playoffs.
A 2-1 win over G2, let's take a look at all the action from an intense series.
NAVI draw first blood on Mirage
The series began on Mirage, with NAVI starting strongest as they picked up the opening pistol round on their CT side.
G2 soon drew the scores level, though, a 1v2 from huNter- made it 2-2 and set G2 up to take the lead at 3-2.
They couldn't carry forward that momentum, NAVI quickly responded with four round wins to make it 6-3. G2 didn't plant at all in that time, but did manage to pick up two more rounds after that run to go into the half with NAVI on top at 7-5.
NAVI began the second half well, they picked up another pistol round and two more rounds off the back of that win.
G2's CT side then frustrated them slightly, the next three rounds ended up with two successful retakes and NAVI running out of time in a round, but the former Major champions kept pushing, eventually taking the map 13-10 thanks to a huge 30 kill game from jL.
G2 draw level on Anubis
Headed to Anubis for the second map of the series, NAVI had a fantastic chance to wrap up the series in two as they had a 9-5 advantage following a second half pistol round win.
G2 refused to go down so easily, they managed to win every round after that point to take the map 13-9. malbsMd was instrumental to that run, he picked up 12 T side kills to end the map on 22.
NAVI win in OT on Inferno
Inferno began with some CS heritage, a piece of smart positioning from Snax saw him pick up a knife kill on w0nderful.
The early rounds remained close, the two teams were evenly matched as they traded rounds back and forth. NAVI looked to secure a fourth towards the B site, but a miscalculation saw G2 have a molly remaining and their exec was prevented from ever really getting off the ground as they lost the round to time.
7-5 in favour of NAVI at the half, they were quickest to 12 as they moved to their CT side, but a similarly strong T side from G2 saw them level the tie in the final round to take us to OT.
The magic didn't end there either, G2 stand-in hades pulled off some insane shots to help G2 take series point at 14-14.
But NAVI weren't done just yet, they forced a second OT as b1t and w0nderful took down Snax and malbs in the 2v2 post-plant.
The second OT remained close, but it was ultimately NAVI who took it 19-16 as they won two rounds of both their T and CT sides, huNter- topped the server on 27 kills, but 20 or more kills from Aleksib, iM, b1t, and w0nderful saw NAVI have the overall firepower to seal the win and advance to next week's playoffs.
