IEM Cologne: MOUZ & NAVI eliminated because of Astralis

IEM Cologne: MOUZ & NAVI eliminated because of Astralis

2. August 2023 by Andrew Williams

Natus Vincere and MOUZ are out of the IEM Cologne. Both teams suffered tough defeats against Astralis, who emerged as the favorites.

Astralis eliminated MOUZ

Astralis defeated MOUZ with 2:0. This eliminated MOUZ from the tournament. The lineup had a very inconsistent and shaky run with several wins but even more losses. They played NiP and Navi, among others, but it wasn’t enough to stay in the race.

Astralis showed his best form on Ancient and finished the first map with 16-8. On Nuke it went a bit better for MOUZ but still they were not good enough and finished the map with 11-16.

FaZe loses against Natus Vincere

Natus Vincere defeated FaZe 0-2 in the lower bracket of group B (6-16 Mirage, 17-19 Overpass).

Natus Vincere got off to a convincing start on Mirage. s1mple started with a 1v3 and the team quickly combined for nearly 50 kills. Mirage went very bad for FaZe and they lost the first map. On the second map, things went a little better, but not well enough to keep up with NAVI. s1mple helped NAVI to an overtime win on the second map, making several crucial multikills. FaZe lost 17-19.

G2 defeats Vitality

G2 is in the semifinals of IEM Cologne after defeating Vitality 2-1 in the Upper Bracket B final (Inferno 17-19, Vertigo 16-10 and Mirage 16-8).

The first map was Inferno and Shahar “flameZ” Shushan showed his best form there. However, things looked rather bleak for Vitality after that. On both the second and third map, G2 was the stronger team and eventually secured the win.

Cloud9 defeats GamerLegion

Cloud9 defeated GamerLegion 2-1 to secure a spot in the quarterfinals of IEM Cologne (Inferno 11:16, Ancient 16:11 and Mirage 19:17).

The game started on Inferno, and GamerLegion surged ahead to win the map easily. On Ancient, however, the tide turned and Cloud9 showed a dominant offense to win the map. The third map was Mirage, and it was all to play for – this was immediately apparent and the map was a close affair. At first GamerLegion looked focused, but then they visibly lost their way and Cloud9 took over. GamerLegion was able to force an overtime thanks to Nicolas “Keoz” Dgus, with Cloud9 rallying there to win the map 19-17 with their last strength.

ENCE moves into the semifinals after beating Heroic

ENCE secured a spot in the semifinals by defeating Heroic 2-1 (Nuke 16-12, Mirage 16-14, Overpass 8-16).

The first map was Nuke, the pick of ENCE. The European team was slightly more dominant, earning their first win. On Overpass, Heroic had the upper hand and it was a pretty one-sided affair. Heroic finished the map with a 16-8 score. The decider took place on Mirage. It went back and forth for a while, and by halftime the score was 8-7 in favor of the Danes. ENCE followed suit and overtook the opposing team to end the map with a close score of 16-14.

Natus Vincere defeated by Astralis

Astralis defeated top Ukrainian team Natus Vincere to secure the final playoff spot. Navi lost 1-2 to Astralis (Ancient 25-23, Nuke 9-16, Overpass 16-12).

The Danish team was able to win their own map choice, Ancient with a solid performance before Natus Vincere fought back to win Nuke. Christian “Buzz” Andersen was the star of the night as he put on a stunning performance on Overpass, single-handedly clearing Natus Vincere.

Natus Vincere lost the third map and is no longer in the IEM Cologne race.

In the history of CS:GO, NaVi has always been represented in the playoffs of IEM Cologne and even belongs to the favorites. This year, however, the team failed to make it past the group stage for the first time in nine years. s1mple came forward on Twitter and apologized to all his fans. He said that the team “at the moment” is not ready to fight in the arena.

It is obvious that Denis “electroNic” Sharipov and Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy are missing from the lineup. In the history of this tournament NaVi has always been at the top. After defeats against MOUZ and Astralis they will now lick their wounds at home.