Na’Vi end year of dominance with win at BLAST World Final

Natus Vincere have beaten Gambit Esports 2-1 to claim the trophy at the BLAST Premier: World Final. They earn $500,000 in prize money while Gambit take home $250,000 for second place. Na’Vi also become repeat champions, having won the BLAST Premier: Global Final at the start of 2021. With the win, Na’Vi, the best team in the world, have capped off an incredible year.

“I’m very proud of my team,” Na’Vi’s in-game leader Kirill “Boombl4” Mikhaylov said in the post-match interview. “We did it from the lower bracket, like at the start of the year.”

The match was a repeat of a familiar derby between the two teams from the Commonwealth of Independent States. Gambit boast a winning record over Na’Vi, but Na’Vi have been stronger on LAN — notably, they demolished Gambit in the semifinals of the PGL Major Stockholm 2021.

Even though Na’Vi dropped their map pick of Mirage, 11-16, they answered back quickly on Ancient, 16-11. Inferno was completely one-sided, with Na’Vi playing some of their best Counter-Strike since the start of the BLAST World Final. They blew Gambit out of the server in a 16-6 stomp, all the while screaming enthusiastically and getting louder than what is typical for the team.

“We were so fired up,” Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev said in the post-match interview. “After every round we told ourselves Boombl4 should be louder than [Vladislav “nafany” Gorshkov].”

S1mple was named MVP of the BLAST World Final. He ended the grand final with 77 kills and 40 deaths on a monstrous 1.62 rating. No one in the server even approached s1mple’s level, though Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi put up a strong performance as well. B1t ends his rookie year and his first year with Na’Vi without losing a single LAN event.

“Merry Christmas and happy New Year, haters,” s1mple said. “I hope you’re doing fine.”

Na’Vi have won all of the S-Tier LAN events in the back half of 2021. Their tournament wins this year include the following:

• BLAST Premier: Global Final 2020
• Intel Extreme Masters XVI – Cologne
• ESL Pro League Season 14
• PGL Major Stockholm 2021
• BLAST Premier: Fall Finals 2021
• BLAST Premier: World Final 2021

The team’s 2021 prize earnings are equal to roughly $3.2 million with another $1 million on top for winning the Intel Extreme Masters Grand Slam.

With the BLAST World Final over, the next significant Tier 1 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament will be IEM Katowice, which begins on Feb. 15, 2022.