Team Natus Vincere defeated Gambit, currently topping the world rankings, in a tense match and became the leader of the Starladder CIS RMR tournament. The NAVI had previously lost twice to their closest rivals – the first time in the group stage and the second – in the top seeded playoffs. Nevertheless, they were able to find an approach to their opponent at the moment when it really mattered, and eventually emerged victorious with a score of 3 : 2 at the end of the five-card draw. Valery «B1T» Vakhovsky and Alexander «s1mple» Kostylev, who topped the ranking of the best players at the end of the match, made a significant contribution to this achievement.
Commenting on the result of the performance, NAVI coach Andrei «B1ad3» Gorodensky noted that the Gambit team showed a really high level of play, and in the future they will be able to perform even more successfully. He mentioned that opponents evolved with each match, gaining new knowledge and trying new approaches, quickly correcting mistakes. Therefore, he believes that NAVI and Gambit will meet more than once in various tournaments.
Now Natus Vincere tops the ranking of the best teams from the CIS countries. It is followed by Spirit by a small margin, and Gambit remains in third place.