Natus Vincere have secured a spot in the semi-final of BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022 after defeating FaZe 2-0 in the first quarter-final of the day. It was a short series, with the Ukrainian core overwhelming their reigning Major champions on both Dust2 (16-6) and Inferno (16-1) without too many issues.
Despite coming into their first event with Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev as a stand-in and Denis “electroNic” Sharipov as an in-game leader, Natus Vincere were able to secure a top-four finish after successfully recovering from a loss to OG on the opening day of the tournament. Now Andrey “B1ad3” Gorodenskiy‘s men have the opportunity to get revenge, facing the European mix on Saturday at 16:30 for a spot in the final.
Meanwhile, FaZe‘s stay in Lisbon has come to an abrupt end, only counting one series win against paiN and a disappointing loss to G2 in the last game of Group A. It’s the second consecutive tournament in which Robert “RobbaN” Dahlström‘s men are eliminated in the quarter-finals.
NAVI did not break a sweat during the series
Starting the series on Dust2, FaZe displayed some of the same problems they showed on yesterday’s game against G2. The international squad was unable to make any advances on the CT side, conceding seven consecutive rounds to a patient Natus Vincere offense. electroNic was playing at the top of his game in terms of individual form and calling as the Ukrainian core constantly broke FaZe‘s defenses with both slow rounds and quick changes of pace towards the B site. The Finn “karrigan” Andersen-led squad went into the second half facing a discouraging 2-13 deficit.
After Natus Vincere converted the second pistol, there was very little FaZe could do to stop the inevitable, and despite a few good hits on the B site, Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev put an end to their streak with two solid retakes, closing the map 16-6.
After electroNic was done tormenting FaZe on Dust2, he tagged s1mple in for Inferno and the Ukrainian superstar immediately got to work in the pistol round with a crucial 3k on the B site to start a seven-round winning streak. In scenes reminiscent of 2018, electroNic and s1mple occupied the top-two spots a the top of the scoreboard as Natus Vincere cruised to a 14-1 halftime lead. FaZe‘s offensive never found momentum despite a few good moments from Helvijs “broky” Saukants and switching sides did not help a single bit. After claiming their fourth pistol round of the series, the map went the way of Natus Vincere with a 16-1 scoreline.
