Natus Vincere takes down Rare Atom despite shock start

Natus Vincere secured their second win at the event after winning 2-1 over Rare Atom in a Group D lower bracket semi-final. Following the victory, Rare Atom will play for survival in the Group D Last Chance Stage.

Starting things off on Inferno, NAVI came out best after the first round as they won the first pistol round of the game. However, Rare Atom bounced back on the force buy and took six out of seven rounds in a row to gain a 6-5 lead in the early stages of the game. Natus Vincere closed out the half winning four rounds to win the half 9-6. Switching sides, once again were Natus Vincere the team to win the pistol round. But, Rare Atom played well on the CT side and despite Natus Vincere reaching 15 first, Rare Atom made the comeback and secured overtime. With 34 kills to his name, electroNic saw his team fumble the game towards the end. Rare Atom won the first map 19-17 to give the match the shock start it needed for excitement. With 34 kills to his name, electroNic saw his team fumble the game towards the end.

Next up, Nuke. On their own map pick, Natus Vincere dominated the Chinese roster. An 11-4 half in favor of Natus Vincere was quick to be closed as all five players of NAVI played well on the second map. Moving to the CT side, NAVI kept on pressing the speeder and secured the second map after winning five straight to win Nuke 16-4.

To decide the series, Overpass was the map to be played. With the momentum in their favor, NAVI dismantled Rare Atom in the early stages of the map. Winning nine out of ten rounds on the CT side, Natus Vincere looked unstoppable before Rare Atom bounced back and won five in a row. The first half ended 9-6 in favor of NAVI.

On the T side, b1t took his team on his back. With 21 kills - 106.2 ADR and a 1.69 Rating, Rare Atom was left with no chance. Natus Vincere won the map 16-7 and the series 2-1.

Rare Atom - Natus Vincere 1-2 | ESL Pro League Season 17

MVP: electroNic - 1.49 rating / 67-42 K-D / 98.2 ADR