For almost a decade the black-and-yellow flag has flown in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike, but after a shock exit at the IEM Cologne 2023 group stage today, NAVI will have to watch the rest of the tournament from the stands.
In the second event since announcing a rebuild following the departure of electronic and Perfecto in the off-season, hopes were high for NAVI to rise to the occasion at IEM Cologne. Historically, the org has dominated all comers in the illustrious German tournament—dating as far back as the Zeus-led lineup in 2014.
There, and in every iteration since, NAVI has graced the stage of the LANXESS Arena. But in 2023, there will be no such fanfare after losses to MOUZ and Astralis.
NAVI was forced the long way through the group stage after a defeat to a MOUZ lineup in a rebuild of their own. But, after solid wins over OG and FaZe Clan, it appeared the storied org couldn’t be stopped from making it to Cologne’s playoff stage once again.
Related: S1mple hits ‘disgusting’ wallbang in FaZe’s final round at IEM Cologne CS:GO 2023
Astralis proved a step too far, though the Danish org did need three overtimes to deny NAVI on Ancient. S1mple and co. then struck back on Nuke, leaving it all up to Overpass, where an unlikely rising star picked his moment to shine.
In his greatest CS:GO performance to date, Christian “Buzz” Andersen posted a remarkable 31 kills and a ridiculous 2.02 rating on HLTV to send his team to the LANXESS Arena, exacting revenge against NAVI, who knocked them out in the semifinals last year. The 16-12 victory books a spot in the top six at Cologne and a matchup against Heroic on Aug. 4.
For NAVI, it’s back to the drawing board after a tumultuous start to a new era. The squad only just scraped through last fortnight’s BLAST Premier Fall Groups, and a loss here is disappointing, to say the least.
S1mple’s impact has been down too, even after considering his 1.50-rated disintegration of FaZe, which featured a 40-kill effort on Overpass.
But all eyes are on new recruit Mihai “iM” Ivan, who has struggled to adapt to life in NAVI after his stellar top-two effort with GamerLegion at the Paris Major. His streak of 1.10+ events came to an end at his BLAST Premier debut with NAVI, and his stock fell further in Cologne—managing just a 0.92 rating over the 10 maps, slightly ahead of IGL Aleksib.
While it’s still early days for this new NAVI, a miss in Cologne was unfathomable given their seemingly unstoppable Cologne streak. We’re now next likely to NAVI at the million-dollar Gamers8 2023 tournament in Saudi Arabia on Aug. 16.
Meanwhile, IEM Cologne playoffs kick off this Friday, Aug. 2.
