Vitality top EPL Group A with win over NAVI; lock in playoffs

Vitality have booked a spot in the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 16 after topping Group A with a win over NAVI, the first time that Dan “⁠apEX⁠” Madesclaire‘s troops have secured a win over the Ukrainian-Russian side since pivoting to an international roster at the start of the year. It took all three maps for the the series to resolve, with an Inferno victory from Natus Vincere giving way to a reverse-sweep from Vitality on Mirage and Overpass.

The victory means that Vitality will start their playoff run in the quarter-finals since they are now assured of a first place finish in their group, and also saves Ninjas in Pyjamas from elimination, something which would have been a reality if Oleksandr “⁠s1mple⁠” Kostyliev‘s side has secured victory. The race for the final two spots out of Group A is also left wide open heading into the final day of play, with there even being a chance that Natus Vincere don’t make it through if the results don’t go their way.

Viktor “⁠sdy⁠” Orudzhev was the difference-maker for NAVI early on in the series, demolishing Vitality‘s attempts to get into the A bombsite on Inferno round after round alongside s1mple as the team climbed to a substantial 11-4 lead at the break. That extra buffer of rounds proved key as Vitality kicked off a comeback effort in the second half with Mathieu “⁠ZywOo⁠” Herbaut and Lotan “⁠Spinx⁠” Giladi combining to help their team climb to ten rounds, but three multi-kill rounds from s1mple helped NAVI seal the deal and take the map over the line, 16-10.

Mirage brought about a change of tides as Vitality bounced back, although the scoreline was much tighter as the teams were locked in a battle for the lead for much of the first half. Natus Vincere converted a handful of T side advantages off the back of fragging from s1mple and Valeriy “⁠b1t⁠” Vakhovskiy to lock in a 8-7 lead at the break, but Vitality responded in kind when they were on the attack, a resplendent performance from Peter “⁠dupreeh⁠” Rasmussen helping score wins in a handful of pivotal rounds as Vitality reached match point first. It seemed as if Natus Vincere could force overtime, two lock-out rounds leading to a 15-14 scoreline, but double kills from Emil “⁠Magisk⁠” Reif and Spinx put an end to that hope and moved the series to an Overpass decider.

Overpass saw Natus Vincere take an early lead once again, converting a pistol win into a 4-0 lead. It took an ace from apEX to get Vitality on the board, but from there they began to build momentum, working their way up to score six rounds by the break. Once on the defense, the international squad took complete control, ZywOo starring in a cohesive defensive effort from their side that left NAVI looking the fool. sdy‘s attempts to attack through monster and b1t‘s A lurks proved ineffective in the majority of rounds, and s1mple‘s heroics weren’t enough to turn the tides, Natus Vincere adding just three rounds to their tally before Vitality closed things out 16-12.