Natus Vincere vs Astralis

NaVi looked flat versus Vitality, who had the much better tactics. It seems NaVi isn’t quite strategically ready to contend with the very best teams in the world. It’s understandable given that Boombl4 revealed in an interview the team was only able to practice with Perfecto for 5 days online before the ICE Challenge.

Astralis versus Complexity was a wild one. Complexity pulling off the 2-0 victory has to be one of the craziest upsets we have seen in years. Astralis didn’t play bad but at the same time were no where near their peak level of play. Complexity was well prepared and played fearless counter-strike. Did not expect this result at all. Knowing Astralis, they will likely come out tomorrow very hungry for a win.

Veto predictions: NaVi ban Vertigo, Astralis ban Mirage, NaVi pick Train, Astralis pick Nuke, NaVi ban Inferno, Astralis ban Dust 2, Overpass is decider.

NaVi may elect for Dust 2 over Train but given that Astralis will have likely gone over all their mistakes on Dust 2, it may be more of a risk. Nuke or Inferno feel like the obvious picks for Astralis. Overall, Astralis have a much more complete map pool, and are favorites on virtually every map. A real shock would be if NaVi picks Vertigo, pulling a similar trick to that of Complexity. However, I highly doubt they have even gone over Vertigo as a team yet.

Regardless of how Astralis lost to Complexity, they are still the clear favorites against NaVi. Even if the individuals on Astralis play below their normal standards, their tactics and overall structure should be enough to beat a partially prepared NaVi.