s1mple-less NAVI make a strong start to their CS2 journey
The first big CS2 LAN, IEM Sydney 2023's second game had Natus Vincere (NAVI) kicking things off against Apeks, with B1ad3 back in the server, replacing s1mple, who was missing the event due to apparent Visa issues.
The IEM Sydney 2023 opener was B1ad3 back in the server in a LAN game for the first time since January 2018.
The BO1, which was the Group A upper bracket quarter-final, got underway on Mirage as NAVI started with four on the trot on their defensive side before Apeks got on the board. It was a jL shutdown as the former Apeks man was out for vengeance that helped NAVI take a 8-4 lead with jL ending the opening half with 20 kills.
jL's 1v1 against nawwk on the B site saw NAVI take the second pistol as well. Apeks seemed like they'd pull it back all the way but it was NAVI on deagles with jL's triple headshot putting them on match point. NAVI secured the map at 13-9 with jL ending the match with an incredible 31 kills.
Natus VincereApeks| Natus Vincere |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Justinas 'jL' Lekavicius |
30 - 12 | +18 | 123.6 | 86.4% | 1.98 |
 Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen |
19 - 15 | +4 | 98.4 | 72.7% | 1.31 |
 Valeriy 'b1t' Vakhovskiy |
13 - 14 | -1 | 56.0 | 54.5% | 0.91 |
 Mihai 'iM' Ivan |
12 - 14 | -2 | 67.9 | 68.2% | 0.86 |
| Andrey 'B1ad3' Gorodenskiy |
4 - 16 | -12 | 43.3 | 54.5% | 0.43 |
| Apeks |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ådne 'sense' Fredriksen |
17 - 16 | +1 | 88.6 | 72.7% | 1.06 |
 Aleksandar 'CacaNito' Kjulukoski |
15 - 16 | -1 | 70.6 | 68.2% | 1.05 |
| Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad |
13 - 18 | -5 | 89.4 | 81.8% | 1.02 |
| Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski |
13 - 16 | -3 | 54.1 | 63.6% | 0.87 |
 Tim 'nawwk' Jonasson |
13 - 15 | -2 | 57.7 | 54.5% | 0.84 |
Also read
