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Live updates
19:37 NAVI’s first time on Overpass with sdy coming up next
Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy was saying on the stream that while NAVI haven’t played it at BLAST yet, they have practiced the map and are feeling confident starting on the CT side, where Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev replaced Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov directly in the rotation position.
19:27 : A brief resurgence from Vitality wasn’t enough
Vitality 8-16
Natus Vincere
For a brief few rounds it looked like we might have a game on our hands, but then Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy stepped up to the plate with a quad-kill and two triples to shut Vitality down. NAVI take the first map 16-8.
19:16 : Perfecto’s 4K in the second pistol all but seals the first map
19:10 : A decent recovery, but still a ways to go for Vitality
With four out of the last five rounds, Vitality at least enter the realms of possibility. The French-Danish team has put up some good T sides so far at the event, but there’s big pressure on the upcoming pistol round.
A fan with an Astralis jersey was spotted in the very NAVI-favored crowd, looking… Let’s say like a typical Astralis fan these days would — not very happy with the state of affairs.
19:02 : Vitality go on the aggressive to take back some control
18:57 : Vitality are getting spanked at the moment
A close retake situation on A, but NAVI come out on top again on the back of an Denis “electroNic” Sharipov triple. We could be heading for a stomp.
18:45 : NAVI have early momentum on T side
18:35 : s1mple is already here to play
Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev gets two entries on the hero AK-47 in a second-round forcebuy and NAVI get on the board immediately. Six kills in two rounds from the Ukrainian superstar already.
18:32 : The grand final is live!
Here we go. s1mple‘s triple wasn’t enough, and on the other side it’s Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut and Dan “apEX” Madesclaire with doubles in the pistol to give Vitality and early advantage.
18:25 : “It’s been one year and a half we didn’t beat them.. I guess it’s a bit too long,” apEX says when asked about Vitality’s losing streak to NAVI.
18:20 : The maps are set
“Vamos!” Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez exclaims on the desk as he sees an Overpass pick from Vitality, with the Swiss analyst showing his appreciation for Danny “zonic” Sørensen and apEX deciding to test the new NAVI’s map pool.
1. Natus Vincere removed Vertigo
2. Vitality removed Ancient
3. Natus Vincere picked Mirage (Map 1)
4. Vitality picked Overpass (Map 2)
5. Natus Vincere removed Nuke
6. Vitality removed Inferno
7. Dust2 was left over (Map 3)
The grand final starts in 10 minutes.
Journey up to this point
When they first arrived in Lisbon, neither Vitality or Natus Vincere looked anywhere near title-winning form, but they have grown as the tournament progressed, reaching the grand final despite early woes in the group stage.
Having failed to go on a deep run ever since they brought in the Danish trio at the beginning of the year, apEX‘s squad looked on course to another disappointment when they faltered to G2 in their opening series and lost a map to massive underdogs paiN in the next series. Something finally clicked for Vitality when they played ENCE in the quarter-finals, though, with great T sides and everyone turning up seeing them secure a 2-0 win against the world’s No. 2 team in their biggest scalp yet. They then took revenge on G2 in the semis, powered by a vintage apEX performance in a close Dust2 and by another strong T side showing on Nuke.
One of NAVI and Vitality will claim their first title of 2022 today
Over in the other group, Natus Vincere were getting their first taste of what it’s like playing with electroNic as the in-game leader and sdy following the departure of Boombl4. The early signs weren’t great, when an OG team playing with a stand-in and two new players brought down the CIS titans, but since then s1mple & co. have looked more like their old selves and perhaps even better at times. A comfortable win against BIG followed, and a stunning victory over FaZe dispersed any doubt that this NAVI squad can still be a world beater. A rematch against OG in the semis proved to be a much bigger test, but it was one that NAVI passed despite occasional stumbles throughout the series.
MVP status check
As you can imagine, the two best players of the past three years, s1mple and ZywOo, are the leading candidates in the race to the HLTV x BitSkins MVP award as their teams’ standout players and as the two highest-rated players at the event up to this point.
electroNic also stands a chance in his first event as NAVI’s in-game leader, in particular after a highlight performance in the semi-finals against OG and thanks to a consistent showing in the leadup to the arena matches before that. Here are the two teams’ lineups and the players’ ratings so far in the BLAST Premier Spring Final:
