NAVI edge past Astralis on B1T’s debut at BLAST Premier Fall Finals

Astralis have dropped to the lower bracket after being unable to convert a 13-9 lead on the deciding map against NAVI and are set to face MOUZ for their tournament lives.

Fans of the latest move from Natus Vincere didn't have to wait long to see the fresh face of Valeriy "⁠b1t⁠" Vakhovskiy on the server after he was announced as the team's sixth player just hours before the match, as he slotted in instead of Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev for the first map of the series already, Inferno.

The newest member of the CIS squad struggled individually on the opener, but Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev was there to pick up the slack, leading the NAVI camp in the close battle. However, despite the superstar's efforts, Astralis ended up coming out on top 16-14 after a solid offensive half and a six-round run on the CT side.

s1mple led the way to the comeback on Nuke with a monster streak

flamie was back in action for Nuke, but in the meantime Astralis switched out Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth for Lucas "⁠Bubzkji⁠" Andersen, as has been their custom in the last few matches. Undefeated on Nuke since joining the Danish powerhouse, Bubzkji was on course to keep his flawless record on the map as Astralis were leading 12-6 and had the momentum on their side, but then s1mple arrived.

With a quad-kill, the Ukrainian monster kicked off a mega-streak of six consecutive multikills to pull Natus Vincere through to the deciding map on the back of a ten-round run on the defense, during which s1mple put up 21 kills and only died once, all the way at the very end.

An incredibly back-and-forth Dust2 affair decided the series. At first, NAVI were in complete control as they were leading 8-1 on the CT side, but then Astralis took over and got off on a dominant run of their own. Finishing the half with six to their name, the Danes soon equalized the score on the back of Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander's 1v3 clutch in the pistol and went on to come within three rounds of victory, until the tide turned again when Natus Vincere kicked into another gear with several late-round wins to pick up the series at 16-14, 2-1.

BLAST Premier Fall 2020 FinalsBest of 3 Natus VincereMatchpage 2 1 8th December 2020 Astralis 14Inferno 16 16Nuke 12 16Dust2 14

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostylievs1mple	83 - 46	+37	90.7	1.44
Denis 'electroNic' SharipovelectroNic	59 - 60	-1	78.9	1.05
Kirill 'Boombl4' MikhailovBoombl4	50 - 57	-7	67.5	0.95
Ilya 'Perfecto' ZalutskiyPerfecto	48 - 53	-5	56.5	0.94
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyevflamie	29 - 35	-6	59.5	0.93
Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiyb1t	13 - 24	-11	56.7	0.62

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossandergla1ve	63 - 55	+8	77.2	1.20
Nicolai 'device' Reedtzdevice	65 - 58	+7	77.9	1.06
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	53 - 55	-2	69.9	1.02
Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethXyp9x	30 - 37	-7	62.6	0.88
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	49 - 63	-14	59.4	0.86
Lucas 'Bubzkji' AndersenBubzkji	15 - 17	-2	58.1	0.78

Natus Vincere #4 Egor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' SharipovKirill 'Boombl4' MikhailovIlya 'Perfecto' Zalutskiy Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander Age: 25 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 1417 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.65 MOUZ #8 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenChris 'chrisJ' de JongDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýRobin 'ropz' KoolAurimas 'Bymas' Pipiras Astralis #2 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth Age: 25 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1704 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.61 Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev Age: 23 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 1450 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.67 Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy Age: 17 Team: NAVI Junior Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 198 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.66 Lucas 'Bubzkji' Andersen Age: 22 Team: AstralisS Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 743 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.67 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 23 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.24 Maps played: 1272 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.65