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Natus Vincere (NaVi) has secured their spot in the grand final of ESL Pro League Season 18 after defeating Monte 2-0 in their semi-final clash.
NAVI’s journey in the tournament has been remarkable, as they have yet to drop a map.
They previously clinched victories against 5yclone, Apeks, FaZe in the group stage, and Eternal Fire in the quarter-finals.
This campaign marks a significant achievement for the Natus Vincere Counter-Strike roster, especially since they underwent a controversial international roster change during the summer off-season.
It also represents the organization’s first grand final appearance since their loss to FaZe Clan at IEM Cologne in July 2022.
Speaking about their success, s1mple expressed his satisfaction, highlighting that this final holds special significance for the team.
The semi-final against Monte proved to be a tough challenge for Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen’s team.
Monte led 11-7 on the favoured Terrorist side of Anubis and 9-4 on the CT side of Mirage.
However, it seemed that the pressure got to the relatively inexperienced squad.
NaVi’s ability to stay composed in clutch scenarios, especially on Mirage, and their prowess in late retakes turned the tide in their favour.
.@natusvincere cleanly take down @Monte_Esports 2-0 in the Semi Finals of #ESLProLeague S18!
16-12 Anubis
16-10 Mirage pic.twitter.com/W61SYCIxGn— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 30, 2023
In the other semi-final match, MOUZ secured a 2-1 victory against ENCE (Mirage 16-13, Vertigo 11-16, Nuke 16-8).
MOUZ, led by Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek, continued their impressive run in the tournament, having previously defeated G2 and FaZe in the playoffs.
Adam “torzsi” Torzsas was massive for MOUZ, recording an equal server high rating of 1.23, after compiling a +23 kill/death differential across the three maps.
This win halted ENCE’s streak of four consecutive grand finals appearances.
The upcoming title decider between MOUZ and Natus Vincere is set for Sunday and will be contested in a best-of-five series.
This match will put both teams’ map pools to the test, considering the substantial line up changes they made during the summer off-season.
NaVi will enter the final as slight favourites at -138.89 with most esports betting sites, while MOUZ has been marked as +100 outsiders.
.@mousesports get the better of @ENCE in the last Semi Final of #ESLProLeague S18, closing it out 2-1 💪
16-13 Mirage
11-16 Vertigo
16-8 Nuke pic.twitter.com/G1pe9H5tBG— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 30, 2023
