The Natus Vincere team secured access to the EPIC League CIS playoffs by defeating Gambit with a score of 2 – 0. The confrontation between two teams occupying the top places in the world rankings attracted a lot of attention. Their last meeting, which took place in the grand finals of DreamHack Masters Spring, ended in victory for NAVI. This time Alexander's team "s1mple" Kostylev managed to first win Dust2 in a bitter struggle, and then achieve confident superiority on Train. This result guaranteed Natus Vincere a place in the playoffs, as the team won three victories and suffered only one defeat. For Gambit, the situation remains uncertain: the team's fate will depend on how it performs in the last stage of the group tournament.
On Dust2, Gambit players managed to put pressure on their opponents for some time, starting the match by winning several rounds in a row. Only by the time of the change of sides did NAVI manage to seize control and achieve an advantage. Having reserved the first map, Natus Vincere players felt more confident on the second map and at some point achieved an overwhelming advantage, leading with a score of 13 – 2. Although Gambit managed to win back several rounds, in the end they were unable to oppose NAVI.
