On September 25th at 13:00 EEST, Natus Vincere will face Team Falcons in a group stage match at the BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024 for CS2. The match will be played in a best-of-3 format. Bo3.gg, together with Arsenij "ceh9" Trynozhenko, presents a preview, prediction, and analysis of the upcoming showdown.
Current Form
NAVI is in excellent form, with an average rating of 6.3 at S-tier events over the past month. The team shone at ESL Pro League Season 20, finishing the tournament undefeated, securing their third trophy of the year. Victories over renowned teams like Ninjas in Pyjamas, Team Spirit, G2 Esports, and two wins over Eternal Fire emphasize the team's strength. Arriving at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024 as the top favorite, NAVI aims to claim another cup.
Falcons, on the other hand, cannot boast the same achievements. Their average rating over the past month at S-tier tournaments is 5.9. During this period, the team participated in two tournaments — BetBoom Dacha Belgrade 2024 #2, where they placed only 7th-8th, and ESL Pro League Season 20, which was a complete failure for them, finishing in 21st-28th place. Over their last five matches, Falcons managed to defeat only ATOX Esports, while losing twice to Virtus.pro and once each to FURIA Esports and RED Canids.
Map Pool
NAVI usually bans Vertigo as it doesn't fit their comfortable pool. The team prefers to pick Mirage and Nuke. Mirage is one of the team's strongest maps with a win rate of 81%. Another strong option is Dust2, with an 82% win rate. It's likely that NAVI will ban Vertigo, pick Mirage, and consider Ancient as a possible decider map.
Falcons often ban Inferno. Their map pool focuses on Nuke and Vertigo, but the team hasn't shown extraordinary results on these maps. Falcons have a decent win rate on Dust2 (59%), but this map is also strong for NAVI, which may complicate their choice. Falcons will likely ban Inferno, pick Nuke, and the decider may not even be needed.
Prediction from ceh9
Arsenij "ceh9" Trynozhenko, a former professional Counter-Strike player and a member of NAVI, currently works as a commentator for Maincast.
NAVI is a team that has come a long way recently, and I don't see BLAST as a tournament they can emotionally handle easily. Psychologically, it’s very challenging. The only thing in their favor is their good form. With their experience and skill, they can go far in this tournament, and even more so, defeat a team like Falcons.
As for Falcons, we have what we have — roster problems, coach problems, problems across the board. They are too weak right now to defeat NAVI. If there were a stronger team instead of Falcons, they might have had a chance because NAVI is tired. But I don’t see any prospects for Falcons.Arsenij "ceh9" Trynozhenko
PREDICTION: 2:0 in favor of NAVI
The BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024 matches will take place from September 25th to 29th in Copenhagen, Denmark. Teams will compete for a prize pool of $425,000 and 8,700 BLAST points. The tournament winner will also earn a spot at the BLAST Premier: World Final 2024. You can follow the championship progress via this link.
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