Who Can Stop Natus Vincere? IEM Cologne 2022 Playoff Preview

Natus Vincere

Here are a few words about the main favorite of the tournament. Despite the difficulties in some matches, NAVI successfully advanced to the championship semi-finals in the upper bracket of group A. On their way, the team of Denis electroNic Sharipov beat MOUZ, Ninjas in Pajamas, and Movistar Riders. Also noticeable is the significant progress of Viktor sdy Orudzhev. The e-sportsman constantly works with the team coach, listens to the players' tips and thus develops. On BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2022, where Natus Vincere won, Orudzhev finished with a rating of 5.7. His rating after the group stage of IEM Cologne 2022 is 6.0.

I'm still a little insecure and unstable. I can show a good game but perform very poorly in the next game. I need to become more stable, and everything will be fine. It was not difficult for me to adapt as the team gave me everything I needed to know. ElectroNic is an amazing captain and very easy to play with.

Victor sdy Orudzhev

FaZe Clan

Recently, FaZe Clan has been NAVI's main competitor, but the team is not in the best shape after the championship at PGL Major Antwerp 2022. In the group stage, Finn karrigan Andersen's team did not lose a single map and booked themselves a slot in the competition's semi-finals. FaZe, and Natus Vincere will likely meet in the finals of IEM Cologne 2022, and the statistics are on the side of the Born to Win. The teams have already met once after the update of the NAVI roster. Then electroNic and the company didn't leave chances to the opponent — 16:6 on Dust2 and 16:1 on Inferno.

Now, FaZe looks more stable, but the squad captain still drops out. Karrigan finished the group stage with a 5.8 rating. Whether Andersen can set himself and the team up for the playoffs is a mystery.

Quarter-finalists

MOUZ - Astralis is the first pair of quarter-finalists. Both teams were more surprised by reaching the playoffs than they were expected to see themself on stage. Both MOUZ and Astralis have not won trophies for a long time, and over the past half a year, only the lazy have not beaten these two teams. Therefore, whichever of them made it to the semi-finals, they are not rivals for Natus Vincere.

The second pair of quarter-finalists are Movistar Riders and Team Liquid. Starting from the ESL Challenger Valencia 2022, the Spaniards from MR show an incredible performance. They won the tournament in Valencia, beating Virtus.pro in the final, and then successfully passed the Play-In stage and the group stage at IEM Cologne 2022. Movistar Riders can surprise anyone except NAVI. They lost to them in group A in the match for a quota in the championship semi-finals. As for Liquid, they are fully consistent with their logo - in this competition, the team is in the status of a "dark horse." Nick nitr0 Cannell's team is playing at the tournament with stand-in Marek YEKINDAR Galinskis and looks more like a mix of tier-1 players than a team. Team Liquid is quite capable of reaching the final, but it will be very difficult if Natus Vincere is there.

The IEM Cologne 2022 Playoffs will take place on July 15 - 17 at the LANXESS Arena in Cologne, Germany. You can follow the course of the championship as well as track the detailed statistics of the teams here.