On October 21, the group stage of the IEM New York CIS ended. As a result, two teams were identified that will go straight to the semifinals, and four more that will meet in the quarterfinal matches. Most of the participants in the next stage of the tournament were decided a few days ago, and the attention of the audience was drawn to Natus Vincere, which had previously lost to forZe and Virtus.pro. The team's problems were associated with the poor health of Ilya "Perfecto" Zalutsky, who was diagnosed with coronavirus a few days ago.
Nevertheless, NAVI managed to win the right to leave the group, winning the match with Espada without losing a single map. In an interview with Kirill «Boombl4» Mikhailov said after the team reached the playoffs, the player said that Natus Vincere was considering the possibility of withdrawing from the tournament. Perfecto's health deteriorated on the day the final match was played, and the significance of the RMR tournament in the absence of a clear schedule for the majors remains unclear.
NAVI's next match will be played on October 23. The quarterfinals will take place on this day: Natus Vincere will meet with Gambit, and forZe will meet with Nemiga. Virtus.Pro and Spirit will begin participating in the playoffs immediately from the semifinals.
