[LIVE] NAVI take a lead into the second half of Inferno

Time Stamp: July 17, 2022 10:35 AM

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16:35 : The lead goes to Natus Vincere for the first time as the first half draws to a close

Europe FaZe 6-9 Ukraine Natus Vincere

The guns are back out for both teams, and FaZe‘s heavy emphasis on short continues; they trade into a 3v3, but leave the bomb at spawn which ruins the round. It seems FaZe may be trying to target Viktor “⁠sdy⁠” Orudzhev.

A half-buy comes next for FaZe and back to A they go, but a well-timed rotation from Aleksandr “⁠s1mple⁠” Kostyliev shuts everything down.

Both teams have a full-buy for the final round, Helvijs “⁠broky⁠” Saukants punishes Natus Vincere‘s early banana aggression, but a full B execute is thwarted by Ilya “⁠Perfecto⁠” Zalutskiy from the flowers boost.

Advantage Natus Vincere.

16:28 : Natus Vincere tie the game

Europe FaZe 6-6 Ukraine Natus Vincere

FaZe get back on the horse, winning with another A take through short, Robin “⁠ropz⁠” Kool closing with some clean headshots.

Natus Vincere buy again and answer right back, stopping a very similar A-short hit and putting FaZe back on a bad purchase, which they duly deal with.

16:22 : Natus Vincere close the deficit

Europe FaZe 5-4 Ukraine Natus Vincere

Natus Vincere clean up an eco and from there begin to stabilise their defence. FaZe take an early timeout after taking a few losses.

s1mple seems in good form, which the CIS giants will need if they want to win this game.

16:17 : Natus Vincere get on the board

Europe FaZe 5-1 Ukraine Natus Vincere

Natus Vincere can’t complete a B retake in a 3v3 on the first gun round, but they do ensure everyone on FaZe dies and save themselves an AWP on s1mple.

This allows a decent buy in the next, but once again FaZe trade themselves into a 3v3, this time on A, and they repel another retake attempt.

The resulting half-buy from Natus Vincere sees a huge play from s1mple‘s deagle net them an unlikely round.

Game on.

16:10 : FaZe take early lead

Europe FaZe 3-0 Ukraine Natus Vincere

FaZe survive a couple of scary moments to convert to 3-0, a s1mple 2k with a p250 grabs Natus Vincere a couple of free guns for their first full buy.

16:06 : Inferno begins, the grand final is live!

Europe FaZe 1-0 Ukraine Natus Vincere

Inferno is the first battleground here in Germany, and a huge Russel “⁠Twistzz⁠” Van Dulken triple kill with the glock starts the FaZe offence off right, despite attempted heroics from Valeriy “⁠b1t⁠” Vakhovskiy on the retake.

15:45 : The veto is in

We have the maps for our best-of-five final, with Janko “⁠YNk⁠” Paunović shocked at the fact Natus Vincere took Overpass as their first pick.

Who do we think this veto favours?

1. FaZe ban Dust2
2. NAVI ban Vertigo
3. FaZe pick Inferno (Map one)
4. NAVI pick Overpass (Map two)
5. FaZe pick Ancient (Map three)
6. NAVI pick Mirage (Map four)
7. Nuke was left over (Map five)

15:25 : Who leads the race for the HLTV x BitSkins MVP medal?

Unsurprisingly, it is s1mple who leads the way in the MVP race, with a staggering 1.34 rating thus far at the event and a monstrous 1.43 impact rating.

It will take a huge performance from one of the FaZe stars to clinch the MVP medal, with ropz best placed to do so after an excellent showing against Movistar Riders yesterday.

15:19 : The show is now LIVE

The pre-show for the final is now live, tune in to the stream embedded at the top of this post to get yourself ready for a barn-storming game.

Pay attention to this live post for an update on the HLTVxBitSkins MVP race shortly.

15:00 : The show starts in just under 20 minutes

Grab your refreshments and get comfortable, because the build up to the last grand final of the season starts in just under 20 minutes.

Read on for a quick preview of the final match of the season, where there is more than just a trophy up for grabs.

Cologne so far

IEM Cologne 2022 plays host to the final event of the season, the last moment for teams to prove their worth heading into the summer player break. We have already had plenty of shocks and surprises, highly-touted names like Cloud9 and ENCE suffering early upsets whilst underdogs like MOUZ and Liquid made playoff runs and Movistar Riders and Astralis grabbed themselves unlikely top-four finishes.

Cologne has delivered fascinating storylines so far

The grand-final matchup we find ourselves awaiting was far more predictable. The two teams that have shown the highest ceiling so far this year, competed for the PGL Major Antwerp title and are currently battling it out for the top spot in the world rankings, FaZe and Natus Vincere, are set to do battle for the last trophy on offer for the first half of 2022, in a matchup Perfecto and Finn “⁠karrigan⁠” Andersen themselves have stated will decide the best team in the world.

Read more

Perfecto: “This tournament will decide who the number one team is”

The two titans came into Cologne in differing fortunes, FaZe having just recovered from a shaky patch of form to reach the final of the online Roobet Cup, and conversely Natus Vincere having just produced their best performances of the season to clinch the BLAST Premier Spring Final title, but both have been at their imperious best in Germany. There have been no series losses for either squad, and in the case of FaZe not a single map has gone against them thus far.

FaZe have spread the fragging across their numerous stars, with ropz and broky stepping it up in the playoff series against Movistar Riders, whereas Natus Vincere have been driven by the ever-reliable s1mple. Both teams have done their best work on the CT side, where they sport the highest win percentages of the event by far, almost 10% ahead of their nearest rivals.

So who will fulfil their destiny in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike and confirm their status as the number-one team in the world heading into the player break? Tune in to this live post for updates on the end-of-season spectacle.

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