Natus Vincere dig deep to take BLAST Premier World Final

s1mple clinches record-breaking eighth MVP award of the year.

Natus Vincere wrapped up their most successful year in CS:GO history as they clinched the BLAST Premier World Final title, edging out Gambit in the final. Gambit had started off strongly, but NAVI bounced back and showcased just why they have been almost untouchable this year, rounding off a dominating year with a one-sided victory on the decider map in the finals.

NAVI, who suffered a major shock on the opening day—losing to Team Liquid—had to fight through the Lower Bracket to make it to the finals, but following that loss to the North American team, there were no more hiccups for the Major champions. Their star player, s1mple, once again delivered the goods for the team, but it was an entire team effort that saw them through, with B1T, Perfecto, electronic and Boom14 stepping up whenever needed.

With their win, NAVI secured their sixth title of the year and now head into the winter break having started off their own ‘era’.

The BLAST Premier World Final was not only the final tournament of the year but also one final tournament together for a couple of the rosters. Team Liquid, Vitality and G2 all have impending roster changes, which are set to happen in 2022.

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• The final CS: GO tournament of the year got underway with NAVI taking on Team Liquid, who managed to hold on to their map pick of Overpass before going down on Dust2. In the decider on Inferno, Liquid just brushed aside the favourites, with NAF and EliGE helping Liquid take the opening match 2-1.
• Gambit were up next and they didn’t have much trouble against Heroic, with sh1ro and interz helping the CIS team move into the Upper Bracket Semi-finals.
• NiP were up against G2 and were hoping to get the better of the French team once again, but even though the Swedes started strongly on their map pick of Nuke, G2 blew them apart on Dust2 and Inferno with NiKo amassing a total of 82 kills across three maps.
• Vitality faced Astralis in the final Upper Bracket Quarterfinal game, and the French team, playing their final tournament together as a roster, got off to a resounding start, demolishing the Danes 16-4 and 16-6 on Nuke and Mirage. ZywOo dropped 52 kills in two maps.
• Day 2 kicked off with the Lower Bracket match of NAVI and Heroic, and after suffering a shock loss in the opening game, NAVI bounced back strongly with a 2-0 victory over Heroic. It wasn’t s1mple, though, who carried NAVI through this time; it was his old partner electronic who managed to finish with 60 kills in the game that had only two maps.
• NiP looked to have gotten the better of Astralis in their matchup, but the Danes managed to comeback from 8-14 down to take the decider on Nuke 19-16 to make sure the Swedes were eliminated.
• Team Liquid, riding high on their opening match win against NAVI, were up against Gambit in the Upper Bracket Semi-finals, but even though Liquid managed to take it to a decider, Gambit took the decider on Overpass 16-2 with sh1ro and Hobbit stepping up for the CIS team.
• Vitality faced the G2 challenge in the other Upper Bracket Semi-final, and it was Vitality once again who came out on top, sweeping G2 clean 2-0.
• G2’s loss to Vitality meant they were up against NAVI in the Lower Bracket round match, and G2 went down fighting 1-2. With s1mple waking up in the server and dropping an insane 88 kills over three maps, there wasn’t much G2 (or anyone else, for that matter) could do.
• The other Lower Bracket matchup saw Liquid face Astralis, and the North American team absolutely destroyed the clueless Danes. Liquid’s in-game leader FalleN led from the front along with NAF to eliminate Astralis.
• The Upper Bracket Final saw Vitality face Gambit, with the winner of the match getting a direct entry to the Grand Finals. Vitality went down fighting on Vertigo in the opening map, and on their map pick of Dust2, the French were beaten in overtime, with Hobbit and sh1ro stepping up for Gambit once again.
• The final Lower Bracket match saw a repeat of the opening match between NAVI and Liquid. The Ukrainian side, though, were better prepared this time and made short work of the Liquid challenge. It was NAVI’s old duo of s1mple and electronic who shone for them as they made it to the Lower Bracket Final.
• The Lower Bracket Final saw NAVI face Vitality. The French roster, playing their very last tournament together, put up a fight on the opening map of Nuke, but on the map pick of their choice, Vitality seemed to have run out of gas as NAVI swept past them 16-5 on Dust2 to book yet another Grand Final appearance. It wasn’t just one or two members of NAVI who carried their team through; the entire roster rose to the occasion together and beat Vitality as a well-oiled machine.

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Grand Final

It was an all-CIS final at the last event of 2021, and it was only right that NAVI and Gambit were playing each other given how strong both the teams have been over the year.

NAVI picked Mirage, while Gambit surprised a few with their pick of Ancient, a map that had not been played in the previous two tournaments at all. Inferno was chosen as the decider.

Gambit took the pistol on Mirage and got off to a 3-0 start before NAVI to post their first round. Even though they managed to put a few rounds together, NAVI just didn’t get going on Mirage and ended the first half 6-9. Gambit made short work of NAVI on their T side, and with Ax1Le and nafany stepping up for Gambit, they sealed NAVI’s map pick 16-11.

With their back against the wall, going into Gambit’s map pick, NAVI looked at their talisman to get them out of a messy spot. And that is exactly what s1mple did.

s1mple made sure the Grand Final went to a decider as he took NAVI over the line with a strong show on Ancient, wrapping up the map 16-11 in the Ukrainian team’s favour.

On paper, it should have been an even fight on Inferno, although NAVI had a slight edge. Once the players got on the server, though, it was a one-sided show. s1mple and B1T led from the front as NAVI demolished Gambit 16- 6 on the decider to clinch the BLAST WORLD Premier Finals. And quite poetically, it was B1T who got the final kill of the tournament and that of the year as well.

The rookie, B1T, has been an absolute sensation and has taken the CS:GO scene by storm in his first year. His arrival and strong performances have also taken the added pressure off s1mple, who has begun to perform at a level above everyone else.

With six titles in the bag from 2021, the NAVI era is underway, and it remains to be seen whether they can continue the domination in 2022 and beyond.