Cover Image Courtesy: Intel Extreme Masters | Thumbnail Image Courtesy: Intel Extreme Masters
2020 seems to be going great for Na’Vi who after placing second at ICE Challenge, has gone on to win IEM Katowice. The Ukrainian organization won an IEM tournament after 10 years, and their efforts have resulted in them climbing four positions on the latest HLTV world rankings, as they currently stand second on the leaderboard.
24th February | 2nd March | |
Na'Vi | #6 | #2 |
G2 Esports | #8 | #5 |
Liquid | #3 | #6 |
Mousesports | #2 | #3 |
Fnatic | #4 | #4 |
Evil Geniuses | #5 | #7 |
Na’Vi has proved that they are not a one-man army relying only on Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev for winning matches, as everyone stepped up in Katowice to deliver a spectacular performance. The Ukrainian squad played so well that they went undefeated through the playoffs defeating teams like Liquid, Astralis, and G2 Esports on their way to victory.
Though s1mple won the MVP award, he clearly mentioned that this was the best version of Na’Vi that he has ever played with. With this victory, Na’Vi has also proved that it was an absolutely correct decision to bench Ladislav “GuardiaN” Kovacs and replace him with Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy.
The youngster has been superb throughout the event, winning all five of his 1v2 clutches and proving to everyone how strong of a player he can actually be.
Even G2 Esports moved from 8th on the rank list to 5th position while Liquid dropped from 3rd to 6th. Even Gen.G Esports moved up on the leaderboards after winning DreamHack Open Anaheim 2020, placing 17th on the rank list. Let’s see if Na’Vi is able to dethrone Astralis from the number one spot, as only 4 points separate the two teams from each other.
