The finals of IEM Cologne 2024 are about to begin, where NAVI and Vitality will face off. The final will take place in BO5 format, where the winner will take $400,000 and the trophy to his/her bank.

Teams path to the finals

Both teams received a direct invitation to the main stage of the tournament, where they were able to defeat all opponents and go directly to the finals. Where both won 2-0 and earned a spot in the finals.

On the way to the finals NAVI defeated paiN, Astralis, SAW and MOUZ where they only gave up 1 card in 4 games. Which is very confident and adds to their personal confidence in the match.

In turn Vitality in Group B the grid was more difficult, they defeated FURIA, FaZe, MOUZ and SAW on their way to the final, also giving up only 1 card for the whole tournament.

Curse of BO5 finals for AleksiB

Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen captain of NAVI has some sort of curse of BO5 finals that he can't win for 4 years now. He has lost 5 finals in the BO5 format, along with OG, G2 and NAVI.

AleksiB himself commented on this curse of his in an interview before the match:

I don't look at it at all. I know what we're capable of, I really trust this group of people and I know they trust me, so regardless of the circumstances I know we can do it.

 

Predicts for the finals and meet history

• kennys - NAVI
• Thorin - Vitality

Our Artificial Intelligence, also suggests that the winner will be NAVI with a score of 3-2 in their favor, promising all 5 cards in the match. For NAVI and Vitliaty, this will be the first meeting in 2024, but what an important one. Should NAVI win, they may be considered the better team, but a win for Vitality would fulfill one of apEX's dreams.

Conclusion

The final of another major tournament is not just a match, it will be a real battle. Each of the players dream to win this tournament, in case of a win for NAVI they will be the only organization to win three times in this tournament. If Vitality wins for them it will be their first win at IEM Cologne.