One step away from sensation. The sure favorite avoided humiliation at the start of the season

The BLAST Premier Spring group stage showed that this year the balance of power on the CS:GO scene may look completely different. Natus Vincere had huge problems throughout the tournament and was trembling to the very end about the issue of advancing to the finals in Washington. The decisive meeting with Complexity also caused them a lot of trouble. The Americans were just a hair away from giving a huge surprise. Well – they were.

Amazing return of NAVI

It was a very strange match. Complexity is a rival from the shelf, which for NAVI is nominally an ordinary snack, not a challenge. The Americans played very poorly throughout the tournament, winning only against Evil Geniuses. Natus Vincere, however, also had its problems. Two defeats against G2 Esports forced the Ukrainians to play a match of importance for promotion or dropping to the Showdown bracket, which would be their last chance to advance to the spring finals.

After the first two maps in the series, there was a draw. Interestingly, both teams won the board chosen by the opponent. NAVI’s problems have become more prominent. Everything was to be decided by the third and last map – Overpass. Taking 22nd place in the ranking, Complexity had a real chance of knocking out the opponent seeded 14 places higher.

The first half was very even, but in the second, Complexity pulled away, quickly gaining the initiative. NAVI woke up only when the result was 8:14. It seemed that the situation of the Ukrainians was almost a stalemate and it was Complexity that would ensure its participation in the main tournament.

More esports content on

Then experience and calculation came into play. The duo of Oleksandr “s1mpla” Kostyliev and Denis “electroNic” Sharipov pulled the team out of trouble, doing a great job on the defending side. Knocked off the pace, Complexity began to stumble again and again. The Americans needed two points to close the meeting, and in the end they couldn’t even afford extra time – NAVI won 16:14.

Natus Vincere can speak of great happiness, because a better rival would not have given them a chance for such a spectacular comeback. The first tournament of the season showed that the refreshed Ukrainian team still needs a lot of refinement to reach a high level. Too much still depends on “s1mpla”, who during the competition in Copenhagen seemed to be tired of pulling the team by the ears and scored exceptionally poor numbers for his standards,

Nice try from Complexity, but American CS:GO is still in an extremely pathetic position. No team from this region made it through the group stage, and as many as three started. Team Liquid, Evil Geniuses and Complexity will play for the final two spots in the Washington Finals at the BLAST Premier Spring Showdown. There are a lot of conclusions to draw in order not to let the situation get out of control again, because “Stars” gave their ticket to NAVI at their own request.