The series kicked off on Inferno, where NAVI grabbed the pistol round, but XANTARES wasted no time making his presence known. His flawless entry duels let Eternal Fire bulldoze the A site over and over. Although NAVI secured the second pistol round as well, and even briefly held an 8-7 lead, they struggled to maintain control in late rounds. Eternal Fire capitalized on their inconsistencies, closing out the map with a 13-9 win.
Dust2 was all about Eternal Fire’s strong CT start, racing to a 4-0 lead before NAVI finally got a round on the board. From there, it was the Wicadia show. He locked down Apartments with three triple kills and a double, shutting down NAVI’s T-side push before they could even get started. Despite missing a couple of chances, he still ran the map, finishing with eight multi-kills and 1.97 rating. Eternal Fire closed the series out with a comfortable 13-5 victory.
After the match, Engin "MAJ3R" Küpeli was all smiles in the post-game interview. “It was an important match,” he said. “The matchup against NAVI is not something we liked in the past, but today it was really good”.
“I’m very happy with my teammates, I’m very proud, and today we played good Counter-Strike overall on Inferno and Dust2. I’m very proud,” he added. Eternal Fire will now be facing the winner of MOUZ vs. G2 in the semi-finals on March 29.
For NAVI, this loss raises some big questions. b1t had already hit rock bottom with a 0.17 rating against The MongolZ on Saturday, and unfortunately, things didn’t get much better here. He struggled again, posting career-worst maps on Inferno (0.42) and Dust2 (0.39), bringing this overall event rating to 0.83 – his worst LAN ever.
For a team that was crowned 2024’s Team of the Year, this is a worrying trend. NAVI has always relied on b1t’s consistency and elite mechanics, but right now, something isn’t clicking. With just a few days to regroup before their quarter-final clash against Spirit on March 28, they’ll need to figure things out fast.
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