Natus Vincere knew their loss to Burning and compLexity 's draw against the French team put them in a must win position against the Americans, with both of those teams sitting above them in points going into the final match. Likewise coL knew Burning were heavily favoured to beat TAU so a draw at worst was required here to ensure a playoff spot.

The Ukrainians certainly came out like a team possessed winning 11:4 in a first half which saw them dominating in all kinds of rounds, from smothering defense at catwalk to retakes of A to winning clutch round situations. Despite a valient coL comeback in the second half, Xp3 in particular fragging heavily, Na`Vi booked their ticket to the playoffs of another Arbalet Cup.

Natus Vincere 19:11 compLexity (dust2 11:4, 8:7)

First half

Three kills from starix got the pistol round for Na`Vi as CT and starix would prove to be a key player early on in the game. On the third round coL bought deagles and managed to get themselves into a favourable position and plant. markeloff and starix were facing a 2v3 in A but by working together to push up they were able to turn the round into a 1v1 for starix which he won. coL would buy every round for a number of the next.

On the 4th round Na`Vi left A open so coL could waltz in and plant without being killed but rotating together enabled the Na`Vi players to retake the site and add another round to their total. In the 5th starix won another 1v1 and by now it was a clean 5:0 to Na`Vi and coL had to feel frustrated to have gotten nothing for their efforts thusfar.

Finally the game broke coL's way and they strung two rounds together at A but the very next round Na`Vi showed it was their world and coL were just living in it as they killed all five without losing a man. The lead was pushed to 9:2 before coL got back in as they traded two for two in the last four to end 11:4 to Na`Vi.


Second half

coL knew they had a mountain to climb and four kills from their captain Xp3 began things the right way and got them the pistol. Na`Vi gambled and bought deagles and an AK but things kept going coL's way now they had switched to the CT side. evolution stepped up and won a 1v2 at B in the 19th and then was part of a 2v2 effort with hero in the 21st, again at A. The score was now only 11:10 to Na`Vi and coL must have felt like this was their chance.

In fact it seemed to be the moment which kickstarted Na`Vi into gear and suddenly they were killing again. Two from ceh9 and two from markeloff in A took the 22nd. Two from zeus and ceh9 at A in the 25th made it 14:11. A desperation buy in the 26th saw coL decide to save three weapons after losing two men and killing none themselves, knowing a draw would get them through also. The very next round Na`Vi ended the matter though at B with two kills from starix and two from zeus to send them into the bracket stage.

With Burning eliminating TAU the loss put coL out of the tournament also.

(Photograph copyright of eseanews)