A Tactical Breakdown Of NaVi vs Astralis in IEM Cologne 2022

NaVi defeat Astralis 2-0 in the Semifinals of IEM Cologne 2022 to imitate their Cologne 2018 Semifinal against the Danish core. NaVi swept Astralis off their feet on Nuke, winning it 16-8, and then mounted an iconic comeback for the ages to win in overtime on Mirage 19-17.

NaVi have booked a place in the Grand Finals in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike for the second consecutive year, against none other than the Major winners FaZe Clan. The PGL Antwerp Major Grand Final rematch is set to happen on a more iconic stage, in a thrilling Best of 5 that will grill out the depths of the mental fortitude to decide on the one worthy winner: the best team in the world.

This is the perfect ending to the CS:GO season, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Let’s look at the historically iconic NaVi vs Astralis matchup, and see how b1t clinched his MVP of the Semifinal ahead of the GOAT.

The Map Pool

Let’s look at the map pool before we get into the match itself. Astralis’ permaban is Dust 2, so they can’t ban Mirage, a map they have shown deficiencies on. Their strongest map happens to be Nuke, and no one needs an introduction to the NaVi and Nuke love affair. Astralis were doomed to begin with.

They had to pick Nuke, because what else can they pick? Their best hope was that with the recent changes in NaVi’s system, electronic picking up IGLing, and sdy standing in to fill the hole, Nuke would be a map they could probably win on. That myth was thoroughly broken as s1mple and co. ran rampant on the nuclear power plant. NaVi had Mirage as their pick, with Overpass as the deciding map. Since Mirage was the second map and given how strong NaVi are on it, winning Nuke was a must for the Danes, or else they would practically have no chance of taking down the Ukrainian giants.

Maybe picking Nuke into @natusvincere isn't the best idea.
But that's none of my business…#IEM @stunna pic.twitter.com/YxYROpHdKb

— FAZE VS NAVI FINALS CONFIRMED?? (@ESLCS) July 16, 2022

The Nuke Domination

Let’s just say that things didn’t go exactly as planned for Astralis on Cedar Creek Nuclear Power Plant. NaVi posted an 11-4 CT-sided first half. A majority of Astralis’ round wins were courtesy of super fast rushes on Upper, which forced NaVi into saving most of the time. Because of that, NaVi never really were on the brink of economic breakdown, having good buys in most rounds after they had lost one. So is it really a surprise that Astralis couldn’t string together two consecutive rounds? All four round wins are discrete and isolated, a telling fact that leaks Astralis’ poor T side.

It might be a cliche, but confidence played a big role on that CT side. Perfecto is who I’m talking about specifically. He held his ground and didn’t chicken out of the Upper site in hope of some support even when he was all alone. A good amount of times, though, sdy was the bait for Perfecto to get multikills, a strat that worked nicely.

At the end of this video, it looks like Blad3 was telling sdy that he should’ve coordinated his peek with Perfecto to maximize the chances of winning that duel or getting a trade at least. Perfecto had a higher ground so sdy should’ve been the bait in that situation. If that’s the case, they surely fixed their errors since then, as Upper remained nearly impenetrable thanks to these mini-systems.

And of course, s1mple. 26 kills, 1.80 rating. He was a rock on that CT side, so mobile with the AWP. In one round, he got an AWP kill Outside from near A Main/Red Box, and then instantly pulled out his knife and ran all the way from A to Vents to Secret. By the time he reached Secret, the Astralis players were still trying to hunt him near A Main, and he got another easy AWP kill. So much to learn from the GOAT.

Astralis did put up a fight in the second half by posting 4 rounds in a row to make it 8-11, but NaVi found their attacking gloves and didn’t look back from there, winning the map 16-8.

Dust 3

The second map, Mirage, was expected to be another rollover. But things got spicy. Very, very spicy. After a thrilling first half, the score read 12-3. Except that the 12 belonged to the CT side of Astralis, not NaVi. This is a score after NaVi won the pistol and the following conversion, meaning Astralis went on a 12-1 tear. Even that one round win for NaVi was a mere mercy gift from the CS:GO gods, as b1t and sdy won a 2v5 situation with just pistols.

? #IEM pic.twitter.com/VwpJBeKXwh

— FAZE VS NAVI FINALS CONFIRMED?? (@ESLCS) July 16, 2022

The game looked wrapped up, but as NaVi racked up round after round on their own CT side, the story on the dusty land was far from over. NaVi won 8 rounds, conceding just one on the way. The scoreline read 13-11 and momentum was heavily favoring Natus Vincere. Astralis were pulling a Liquid and nothing was going their way.

Enter blameF.

Astralis put their faith in him by giving him the hero AK, and he used that wand to create magic in the LANXESS arena. Winning two rounds in a row, not only did blameF exceed all expectations by gifting his team a map point but also threw NaVi into the doldrums of economic despair.

But if that drama wasn’t enough for the Cologne crowd, NaVi somehow fought their way back into the game from 11-15 down, and s1mple activated in the most crucial moment, noscoping the final Astralis player to take NaVi into overtime. The drama was at peak speed and there were no brakes on that train. blameF won a 1v2, trumping s1mple in a 1v1 on B, and in another round, Perfecto won a 7 HP 1v1 clutch against gla1ve. Eventually, it was 17-17. b1t had been writing his legacy in the imaginary Moroccan city all game long, but in the two rounds where s1mple was the first to die, it was the rookie who stepped up with multi-kills to seal the deal.

NaVi had completed the comeback, and just like it was in 2018, they had 2-0ed Astralis and reached the Grand Finals.

.@b1tcs is just insane!

The young Ukrainian led NAVI's comeback to win Mirage against Astralis with 1.03 KPR and 120 ADR#IEM pic.twitter.com/89ScjHgGUn

— HLTV.org (@HLTVorg) July 16, 2022

Astralis should be more than proud of themselves for this performance and placement. They will surely spend a few nights waking up in sweat and horror after throwing away that gigantic lead on Mirage, but nonetheless, it feels like a step in the right direction, heading into the summer break. Let me remind you, Astralis started their Cologne journey with a harrowing and embarrassing 16-6 loss to 00Nation on Mirage itself. After a BIG vs Astralis fixture was set, I was more than sure that this will be another disappointing exit for the Danes.

But not only did Astralis defeat the home team, but they also went on to 2-0 the likes of FURIA and Cloud9 and defeat MOUZ in the arena. This is the strongest of this team we have seen so far in their new project and starting next season, I hope they’ll be able to build on this Top 4 placement and at least try to return to the level of beasts they once were.

As for NaVi, it’ll be a perfect ending to the season for them: facing FaZe Clan in the Grand Finals in the Cathedral of Counter-Strike. s1mple and electronic have lifted trophies and tasted success twice already in the LANXESS arena, in 2018 and 2021. They could create Counter-Strike history right here today by becoming the first players to win in Cologne thrice.

FaZe Clan have a strong incentive for winning Cologne as well. They’ll become the first team to win Katowice, Cologne, and the Major in the same year. History will be written in golden ink regardless of who wins.

THE TWO BEST TEAMS IN THE WORLD! ?

Tomorrow they will duke it out in one match for the #IEM Cologne 2022 Grand Final! ? pic.twitter.com/ysoOh7HDZf

— FAZE VS NAVI FINALS CONFIRMED?? (@ESLCS) July 16, 2022

The bragging rights will be eternal. And isn’t that what really matters? Bring on the Best of 5.