In the next match of the ESL Pro League group stage, NAVI defeated the MIBR team with a score of 2 – 0, thus ending the Brazilians' hopes of qualifying from the group. The match began with a protracted confrontation on the Mirage map. On the one hand, Valery “B1T” showed themselves most clearly. Vakhovsky and Alexander "s1mple" Kostylev, and on the other hand – Marcelo "celo" Cespedes. Throughout the entire draw, the card strengths remained almost equal, but in the end Natus Vincere managed to win it by a small margin (25 - 23). On Dust2, it was much easier for the CIS team to defeat its opponent, and it achieved victory without significant difficulties (16 – 8), and in the first half of the draw its advantage was even more striking (13 – 2).
In an interview given after the match, Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhailov commented on the inclusion of B1T in the active roster on the Mirage map – Previously, a young player would only enter the game on Inferno. Kirill noted that the team is trying different options and is still looking for the optimal distribution of roles.
Thus, most of the participants in the group tournament have already decided – Natus Vincere and Cloud9 remain among the last contenders. The final matches of the group stage will take place on March 24, and a victory over Team One will not be enough for the CIS team: they will receive a sufficient advantage in points only if their competitors (Gambit or Cloud9) are defeated.
