French team Vitality won the IEM Cologne 2024 tournament for Counter-Strike 2
The Ukrainian esports team Natus Vincere (NAVI) was defeated by the French team Vitality in the final of the IEM Cologne 2024 tournament for Counter-Strike 2, with a final score of 3:1.
NAVI started off on their chosen map, Nuke, with a rough beginning, losing the first half 8:4, but managed to bring the game back into balance and push it into overtime. However, Vitality came out on top in overtime. On the second map, Dust2, NAVI secured a hard-fought victory. On Mirage, where NAVI had a successful streak of 12 wins, both teams were evenly matched, but Vitality emerged victorious in overtime. The deciding match on Inferno started disastrously for NAVI, as they lost 10 rounds in the first half and ultimately lost the game.
Despite the loss, NAVI secured second place and earned $180,000 in prize money. The NAVI team consists of two Ukrainians, a Lithuanian, a Romanian, and a Finn:
Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi (Ukraine);
Justinas “jL” Lekavicius (Lithuania);
Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen (Finland);
Mihai “iM” Ivan (Romania);
Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov (Ukraine);
Andrii “B1ad3” Horodenskyi (coach, Ukraine).
Before the final, NAVI defeated teams SAW and MOUZ. Additionally, NAVI became the champions of the Esports World Cup 2024 and PGL Major Copenhagen 2024.
