Natus Vincere defeated Heroic in the first round of the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 16. It took three maps to determine the winner, and the match dragged on for five hours not only because the opponents looked roughly equal, but also because of technical problems. Now NAVI will have to meet with G2 in the quarterfinal match, which is scheduled to take place on Friday, September 30.
The confrontation between Natus Vincere and Heroic began with Mirage, and at first the Danish team managed to achieve a noticeable advantage. cadiaN won several duels against s1mple, and at one point the score was 9 – 1 in favor of the Danes. However, then Natus Vincere narrowed the gap and gained an advantage in the second half of the map. The final score was 16 – 14 in favor of NAVI.
At Inferno, the teams swapped roles in some way: in the first half, the CIS team was leading, but after switching sides, the gap gradually narrowed, and the Danes managed to retain this map with a lead of only two points.
The outcome of the match was decided on Overpass. Due to the fact that NAVI players experienced lags several times, the game had to be suspended. As a result, the match continued only after the organizers replaced the s1mple computer. However, after the problems with lags were eliminated, NAVI completed the match without any problems, winning the last map with a score of 16 – 7.
