NAVI sweep G2 to end win drought and make vital EPL Season 24 start

Natus Vincere opened ESL Pro League Season 24 with a convincing 2–0 victory over G2 on October 3, recovering from an early deficit on Cache before closing the series with a dominant Inferno performance.

The sweep ended a 35-day wait for a match victory and gave NAVI a much-needed result in their push toward qualification for the PGL Major Singapore. After disappointing finishes at EWC, BLAST Open Porto and StarSeries Fall, Aleksib’s team finally produced a performance with contributions throughout the lineup.

Map	Pick	NAVI	G2
Cache	NAVI	13	7
Inferno	G2	13	4
Mirage	Decider	—	—
Series	Best of three	2	0

b1t helps NAVI turn Cache around

NAVI’s decision to pick Cache initially looked uncomfortable. G2 moved into a 5–1 lead, putting the pressure on a team that had struggled to turn recent appearances into wins.

The response was decisive. NAVI won the remaining six rounds of their attacking half to lead 7–5, then took six of eight rounds on defense to finish the map 13–7. From the early deficit, they outscored G2 12–2.

b1t led the recovery with 19 kills, a 1.46 rating and a 3–1 opening-duel record. His defensive half was particularly effective: 14 kills, five deaths and 154.9 ADR across eight rounds. He also supplied the finishing play, landing four M4A4 headshots on the A-site defense to secure the map.

NAVI won the opening duel in 12 of Cache’s 20 rounds. That advantage, together with b1t’s second-half damage, gave them a clear route back into a map that G2 had initially controlled.

w0nderful shuts down G2’s Inferno response

G2’s own pick offered little relief. NAVI built an 8–4 lead on the CT side, then won five consecutive attacking rounds to complete the sweep.

w0nderful delivered the standout map performance, finishing 17–3 with a 1.90 rating, seven AWP kills and two clutch wins. His survival and late-round contribution made him especially difficult for G2 to overcome.

iM added 16 kills, 95.9 ADR and a perfect 100% KAST, while winning all four of his opening duels. With makazze also recording four opening kills, NAVI secured the first frag in 12 of 17 rounds.

That left G2 repeatedly trying to recover from a numerical disadvantage. Their attack produced four rounds, and their defense failed to win any after the switch. huNter- endured the toughest individual map, going without a kill during the first half and finishing 1–15 with a 0.19 rating.

Every NAVI player contributes to the sweep

The series totals show how widely NAVI’s impact was distributed. All five players finished with positive kill differentials and ratings above 1.20.

Player	Team	K–D	+/−	ADR	KAST	Rating 3.0
w0nderful	NAVI	33–11	+22	78.1	89.2%	1.48
iM	NAVI	30–21	+9	90.1	91.9%	1.37
b1t	NAVI	34–20	+14	90.8	75.7%	1.33
makazze	NAVI	27–21	+6	76.1	83.8%	1.29
Aleksib	NAVI	20–15	+5	67.4	86.5%	1.25
NertZ	G2	25–30	−5	80.2	56.8%	1.03
HeavyGod	G2	20–27	−7	71.8	67.6%	0.90
MATYS	G2	15–29	−14	47.6	48.6%	0.71
r1nkle	G2	20–27	−7	51.5	56.8%	0.65
huNter-	G2	8–31	−23	33.5	45.9%	0.37

w0nderful topped the ratings, while b1t led the server in kills and ADR. iM combined high damage with NAVI’s best KAST, and Aleksib contributed 20 assists alongside his positive fragging return.

G2 had no player finish with a positive kill differential. NertZ offered their strongest resistance, but his output could not compensate for the gap across the rest of the lineup.

NAVI reverse the Porto result

The victory also reversed the teams’ previous meeting at BLAST Open Porto on August 30. G2 had won that series 2–0, taking Inferno 13–10 and Ancient 13–6.

This time, NAVI removed Ancient and won Inferno by nine rounds. The turnaround on the shared map was particularly significant: G2’s successful pick in Porto became the map on which their EPL opener ended.

Because this was Swiss round one, neither team had earlier EPL Season 24 results to compare against. The win establishes NAVI’s starting point at the event; their next match will show whether they can sustain that level against stronger resistance.

Vitality await NAVI in round two

Team	Swiss record	Map record	Round difference	Next opponent	Date
NAVI	1–0	2–0	+15	Vitality	October 4
G2	0–1	0–2	−15	1win	October 4

NAVI move into the 1–0 pool to face Vitality, while G2 meet 1win in the 0–1 bracket. Neither team has qualified or been eliminated.

For NAVI, the Vitality matchup is an immediate test of whether the Cache recovery and balanced individual output can carry into another series. G2 must respond quickly after losing both their opponent’s pick and their own, with their tournament still recoverable but their opening margin for error already reduced.