Na'Vi has claimed its first victory of the new year. The CIS squad beat Team Liquid 2-0. For Liquid, the loss means that they are eliminated from BLAST Premier groups, and will have to qualify for the finals through the Showdown.
Coming into the first map, Mirage, Na'Vi had identified a very simple game plan: target Nick "nitr0" Canella on the A-site as much as possible. Liquid's in-game leader, who only recently returned to competing in CS:GO, struggled with the repeated hits on his site.
A strong performance from Jonathan "ELiGE" Jablonowski and Richard "shox" Papillion kept the scoreline competitive, but Na'Vi were better across the board. They closed out the map 16-10.
The rough first map had warmed up nitr0, as he showed a different face on Ancient. But Liquid struggled with closing out rounds on the T-side, as they lost a couple of crucial advantageous situations.
While competitive in-game, the first half was a dominant victory for Na'Vi on paper. They closed out the half 13-2, and despite a streak of round win from Liquid to start the second, won the map 16-12.
Na'Vi to face NIP next
In the next round, Na'Vi will have to face off against Ninjas in Pyjamas. The Swedes are still playing with a stand-in, as Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz is still taking a break from competition.
Liquid is condemned to join fellow NA team Complexity in the BLAST Showdown.
