Na’Vi demolish Gambit in statement semifinals victory, advance to PGL Stockholm Major grand finals

Natus Vincere punctuated their run to the grand finals of the CS:GO PGL Stockholm Major with a dominant 2-0 semifinals victory over their CIS counterparts in Gambit today.

The series got off to a hectic start on Overpass, with Boombl4 securing an anti-eco by winning a chaotic second round by running in a circle next to Truck to run out the clock on sh1ro. That round ended up defining the first half, with Gambit running out of time on T-side while struggling to get kills against Na’Vi (nafany and Ax1le only had seven combined kills at half-time). Na’Vi took a 10-5 lead after their CT side.

Some pistol round heroics from Hobbit gave Gambit a much needed lifeline to start their second half, but another anti-eco went the way of Na’Vi thanks to an AK 4K from s1mple in a forcebuy. Just like in the first half, that anti-eco was a huge momentum shift in favor of Na’Vi, who grew their lead to 13-6 before a pivotal gun round. Gambit won that round but couldn’t find any consistent success, crumbling to patient, precise play from Na’Vi. Na’Vi claimed Gambit’s best map in recent memory 16-8 to take a 1-0 series lead.

Na’Vi did not look like they planned on messing around on Mirage, jumping out to a 4-0 lead on their CT side while keeping Gambit to three kills total. S1mple put on an absolute show, while Boombl4 kept his knife busy not once but twice during the first half. S1mple ended the half with 22 kills, and Na’Vi took a 12-3 lead into their T side.

Na’Vi did not let up on the gas pedal for even a moment, taking their T-side pistol round and a massive 15-3 lead. Gambit had to force up inferior weapons and ran into a shooting gallery in the 19th round. Na’Vi put their domestic rivals to bed 16-4 on Mirage to secure the 2-0 series win.

The one-sided series was a drastically different match compared to the close three-map semifinal series between G2 and Heroic, which G2 claimed in overtime on Inferno. Na’Vi and G2 will now meet in the grand finals to determine the winner of the PGL Stockholm Major.