NAVI qualify for EPL S17 playoffs over Spirit

Spirit require two consecutive wins on Sunday if they're to advance to the playoffs alongside Natus Vincere.

Natus Vincere are the third team from ESL Pro League Season 17 Group D to qualify for the playoffs after moving past Spirit in the lower bracket final, 2-0. Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov and company struck first after pulling off a late-map recovery on Anubis (16-14) before laying down the law and wrapping up the series with a commanding showing on Nuke (16-7).

Natus Vincere's group stage run comes to an end with this victory, one which has been marred by less-than-ideal performances, including a 1-2 to loss to FORZE. Nonetheless, the Ukrainian ensemble looked far more composed in this series, even recovering from an initial 5-10 deficit on Anubis to secure passage to the next phase of play in Malta.

Spirit's defeat relegates the side down to the last chance stage in Malta. The Russian-majority roster will need to pick up back-to-back victories on Sunday if they're to join Natus Vincere in the playoffs, with their first test being a rematch against Astralis at 12:30 .

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 17
19/03/2023	Astralis 12:30 Spirit	Match

An Anubis pick from Spirit christened the playoff-deciding matchup, where the Russian squad, energized by a 9-4 and 115 ADR performance from Robert "⁠Patsi⁠" Isyanov, raced to a 5-2 lead on the T-side. Triple kills from Andrii "⁠npl⁠" Kukharskyi and Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev earned NAVI some respite and increased their round tally to four, but Spirit's suffocating hold on the game showed few signs of letting up as the half progressed; Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov and company marched to 10 rounds by the side swap on the back of a well-executed and thorough offensive effort.

Natus Vincere kick-started their comeback attempt at the outset of the second half, using s1mple's turret-like precision to go on a six-round streak and take the lead for the first time since their CT-side pistol round conversion, 11-10. A flurry of individual heroics came to Spirit's rescue at this point, though, with Igor "⁠w0nderful⁠" Zhdanov stepping up with a triple kill before chopper clutched a 1vs2 to swing the momentum back in their team's favor and climb to a 14-11 advantage. Alas, Spirit's new-found revival lacked the legs to go the distance, and Natus Vincere turned up the heat with a five-round spree to eke out a laborious 16-14 victory on their opponents' pick.

Natus Vincere went from strength to strength once Nuke rolled around, putting up a dominant T-side on Cedar Creek which began with 6-0 start after honing in on vulnerabilities in Spirit's A-site hold round after round. chopper's troupe remained locked out of the conversation as the rounds whizzed by, even as the Russian outfit sought to stabilize their increasingly dire situation by calling three of their four tactical timeouts by round 10. Regardless, Natus Vincere's stranglehold only tightened by halftime and the Ukrainian roster, who were being led to victory by a surprisingly strong performance from npl, sat 11-4 up heading into the more favored CT-side.

Natus Vincere pulled off a 4vs4 retake of the A bombsite to commence the second half, but electroNic and company's inability to convert their weaponry advantage in the ensuing round gifted Spirit a chance to claw things back. A hat-trick of rounds brought the Russians up to seven on the scoreboard, but Natus Vincere's overpowering lead proved to be too steep a climb to overcome, with the Ukrainians wasting no time in closing things out after adding four rounds on the trot, 16-7.