VCT EMEA League: NaVi claim third win in the tournament

The third week of the VCT EMEA League 2023 is already underway. We had a very intense and exciting match between NaVi and Team Heretics, where the Ukrainian team got their third tournament win by beating the Spanish team with a score of 2-1.

With this victory, NaVi is very close to Fanatic at the top of the table, and they reaffirm their great level in this tournament. In addition, they thwarted Team Heretics’ comeback attempt with a spectacular third map by Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky.

NaVi score a big win over Team Heretics

What looked like a comfortable win for NaVi ended an intense battle on the VCT EMEA League servers. Team Heretics recovered and won the second map, but, NaVi responded and crushed them in the third map with a score of 13-2.

The series between NaVi and Team Heretics was played on Pearl (NaVi), Lotus (Team Heretics), and Ascent (decider).

Pearl

NaVi started their map pick extremely strong, as they won the first six rounds, giving them more peace of mind for the rest of the first half. However, Team Heretics was able to respond and won three rounds to make up a little bit of the score in the first half at 3-9.

However, NaVi continued their excellent level of play commanded by Mehmet “cNed” İpek (244 ADR, 334 ACS, and 1.73 Rating) and won the first four rounds of the second half to take the win 13-3.

Lotus

Team Heretics started their map pick with the firm conviction to hit back at NaVi; they did just that. With a 10-2 thrashing in the first half, thanks to an excellent level of Auni “AvovA” Chahade (181 ADR, 287 ACS, and 1.72 Rating), they had everything in their hands to take the victory.

NaVi tried everything possible to get back into the match at the change of sides, and they came very close. As a result, after seven rounds, NaVi won six rounds to make the score 11-8. However, Team Heretics were determined to win the remaining rounds for the 13-9 victory.

Ascent

Finally, the third and last map looked balanced after the first two. However, NaVi had an extra cartridge in store, as they managed a crushing 13-2 victory to score their third tournament victory.

NaVi showed all their intentions in the first half when they took a partial 11-1 victory. Andrey “Shao” Kiprsky repelled the Spanish team’s attacks and finished with impressive stats of 221 ADR, 366 ACS, and a 2.04 Rating.

At the change of sides, Team Heretics could see the light at the end of the tunnel by winning the pistol round. However, NaVi responded immediately and won the next two rounds to seal their 13-2 victory.

With wins like this, NaVi proves they are a team set to be a protagonist in the EMEA region and can be Fnatic’s main contenders.

Header: VCT EMEA