NAVI has made it into the top four of EPL Season 23, after a dominant 2-0 win over The MongolZ. Drin “makazze” Shaqiri, who has often been touted as one of the strongest riflers on stage, returned to his best, annihilating The MongolZ across both maps to lock in the semis.
Team Rosters – NAVI vs. The MongolZ – ESL Pro League S23
| NAVI | The MongolZ |
|---|---|
| Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi | Garidmagnai “bLitz” Byambasuren |
| Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen | Sodbayar “Techno4K” Munkhbold |
| Mihai “iM” Ivan | Usukhbayar “910” Banzragch |
| Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov | Ayush “mzinho” Batbold |
| Drin “makazze” Shaqiri | Anarbileg “cobrazera” Uuganbayar |
| Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (C) | Erdenedalai “maaRaa” Bayanbat (C) |
Match Recap – NAVI vs. The MongolZ – EPL Season 23
- Natus Vincere removed Overpass
- The MongolZ removed Anubis
- Natus Vincere picked Ancient
- The MongolZ picked Mirage
- Natus Vincere removed Nuke
- The MongolZ removed Inferno
- Dust2 was left over
Related—ESL Pro League Season 23: Teams, Prize Pool, Schedule, and more
Ancient – Makazze magic in mid – 13-11
The MongolZ started the series off with a pistol win, shutting down NAVI’s set-execute on B. Full rifle buys in round three meant that the two teams were fighting for early control over the map, with NAVI being the ones to get back-to-back rounds first. Still, the two squads remained neck and neck, with MongolZ even edging out a small lead, thanks to a smoke defuses from cobrazera and 910. Those stolen rounds proved decisive at half-time, giving The MongolZ a 7-5 lead.
NAVI came into their own CT side swinging, quickly cracking down on any of the MongolZ bombsite attempts to equalize the game. Gun rounds flipped the half’s script once more, giving The MongolZ their first T-sided round. But NAVI were still in control, especially as their rifling trio looked in good form on the defence. With The MongolZ being regularly shut out of the B-site, NAVI put 12 on the board, edging ever-closer to a victory. While bLitz and co. did push the map to the wire, NAVI closed it out in regulation 13-11.
Mirage – NAVI blow The MongolZ out of the water – 13-4
While NAVI hasn’t had the same strike rate on Mirage (30% winrate, past three months), it will always remain an Aleksib home map. And that was clear in this series as well. Right from the pistol round, NAVI looked comfortable on the map, winning every duel on their CT side for a massive six-round streak.
At long last, The MongolZ managed to crack open the A-site with some well placed AK-47 headshots, immediately bringing NAVI’s coach B1ad3 onto the microphone. NAVI continued their strong CT showing after the timeout, putting together a monumental 10-2 half as The MongolZ failed to find any traction on the map.
maaRaa’s men picked up a crucial pistol-round win, holding back their rivals for a couple more rounds, but with the NAVI individuals on fire, there was little The MongolZ could do to stop a 13-4 victory.
Series Statistics – NAVI vs. The MongolZ – ESL Pro League Season 23
| Player | Kills | Assists | Deaths | ADR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NAVI Makazze | 43 | 10 | 22 | 115.9 |
| NAVI iM | 33 | 13 | 24 | 87.2 |
| MongolZ cobrazera | 30 | 8 | 32 | 80.4 |
| NAVI b1t | 28 | 8 | 26 | 72.9 |
| NAVI w0nderful | 28 | 9 | 19 | 66.0 |
| MongolZ 910 | 26 | 9 | 31 | 65.5 |
| NAVI AleksiB | 22 | 11 | 24 | 66.6 |
| MongolZ mzinho | 20 | 11 | 31 | 62.9 |
| MongolZ bLitz | 19 | 9 | 32 | 62.5 |
| MongolZ Techno | 19 | 4 | 30 | 53.0 |
Editor’s Note: NAVI’s run through EPL has been far from stellar, with the loss to Legacy being a particularly poor result. But where teams like G2 failed to make the playoffs, NAVI at least cleared that hurdle. And now they have added a notable feather to their cap, taking down The MongolZ in dominant fashion.
With MOUZ potentially facing them in the semi-finals, NAVI has the ingredients for a finals run at Stockholm. MOUZ are known to have their own issues in top four calibre series, and with Makazze on prime form, NAVI has the punch it needs to potentially knock them out. Can they pull it off, breaking MOUZ’s hearts once more?
