Na`Vi outclass MIBR to secure Group A upper final spot

Natus Vincere have assured themselves of a playoff spot at the ESL Pro League Season 10 Finals after easing past MIBR in Group A's upper bracket semi-final.

The Russian team put up a masterclass of a performance to send an uninspired MIBR side to the lower bracket of Group A. The Brazilians went into the break down by nine rounds on both maps following slow starts as Natus Vincere ran rampant from the offset. Kirill "Boombl4" Mikhailov's troops will take on the winner of the match between Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves for a spot in the semi-finals, with the loser of that match being placed in the quarter-finals.

Na`Vi came out with all guns blazing on Train, MIBR's pick, and held the Terrorist players at bay during the early stages of the game with some quality AWP shots from Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, who by the seventh round already had 14 frags to his name. It was only when MIBR were down 0-8 that they finally managed to show a reaction, but the rounds that they won until the end of the half were few and far between as Natus Vincere took a commanding 12-3 lead.

MIBR kept themselves alive in the game as they took the pistol round with ease and then put together a deadly double AWP set-up. Na`Vi were starting to feel the pressure as rounds kept going the Brazilians' way, but all it took was one successful eco round for the tide to shift. Natus Vincere followed that up with one round, leaving MIBR's economy in tatters, and ran away with the game, with Egor "flamie" Vasilyev striking the finishing blow with a quad-kill.

The Russian team carried that momentum into the next map, Dust2, and stormed to a 6-0 lead on the Terrorist side. After a technical break, MIBR finally managed to get on the board, but just like on Train they were unable to build on the few rounds that went their way and were limited to just three rounds in the half.

Things then went from bad to worse for MIBR as they lost the pistol round after three of their players hit a brick wall in catwalk called s1mple. Once they had money in the bank, the Brazilians still attempted a response, but by then they were simply too far behind to catch up to their opponents.