Dignitas defeat Na'vi to face Virtus Pro at grand final!

The second EPICENTER semi-final between Natus Vincere and Team Dignitas began with an all out massacre between the two teams on the first map Cobblestone. Na'vi dominated the first few rounds but Dignitas soon found traction with K0nfig getting some great kills on B site.  They finished the half 8-7 to Na'vi. Dignitas continued their defiant run with an impressive CT pistol round.  MSL started slow but found his feet in the second half. 

S1mple the much leaned upon cannon up Na'vi's sleeve with some of the best stats in the league didn't make much of an impact on the map.  He worked hard to take off angles and move into good positions but kept falling to Dignitas. Flamie pulled things back with a serious aggression stealing round 21 from underneath Dignitas.  But Magisk answered quickly back with a round breaking double kill making the score a hard won 14-9 to Dignitas who then stormed to 15-9. K0nfig closed out the map with an amazing quad kill clutching the first map for Dignitas 16-9. Dignitas were the underdogs in this line up but all performed solidly with k0nfig being the definite MVP. 

The second map was Overpass and despite sweet 3k from S1mple Dignitas still managed to steal the pistol with ease as CT.  Na'vi seemed to be rushing to pull back wins and ended up being sprayed down making things look grim for the favourites as Dignitas strode confidently into the second map 2-0. A change of tactics with utility and a slower place finally got Na'vi on the scoreboard but S1mple couldn't clutch the fourth which brought the economy back after a force buy for Dignitas but he managed to grab the fifth with a 3k. He nearly clutched the next with a 3k again making me wonder what impact the rest of Na'vi were having. Usually a strong player Guardian seemed quiet on both maps so far with only 2 frags 13 rounds in. The half finished out 12-3 to Dignitas with them pre-emptive and shutting down Na'vi's attempted late rotation.  

The second half began with Na'vi as CT storming  the B bomb site and everiscerating them.  They managed to pick up another few rounds making it 13-8 as Edward and Flamie join S1mple in the game. Na'vi ran away with three more rounds playing down the clock with skill and then with a ballsy 3k by Flamie- while Guardian still had only 3- simple having ranked up 28. Wisely Dignitas called a tactical pause to re evaluate how to close it out with the momentum slipping at 13-11.  Seized clutched more rounds for Na'vi denying bomb plants and stealing a swift defuse to equalise the score at 13-13. Despite Dignitas' best efforts Na'vi stormed the last rounds closing it out in one of the most impressive tournament comebacks I've seen. 

Nuke was the third deciding map and after winning the pistol with a string of headphots from S1mple,  Guardian stole the second too for Na'vi with a quad kill showing his head was back in the game. At 4-0 Dignitas we're sadly lacking in frags and bomb plants.  Yet Dignitas manage to pull back a round and despite losing the next eliminate most of the CTs and get a bomb plant which puts them in a strong economic position at 5-2 as they force Na'vi into an eco gifting Dignitas the next round while keeping Na'vi on just pistols. 

Dignitas managed to equalise at 6-6 by using secret down to B and being more methodical in checking corners. They took the lead 7-6 but Seized came through for Na'vi again with a beautiful clutch headshot through the silos and then Guardian took a beautiful 1v4 redeeming himself and making it 8-7 to Na'vi at half time. 

Dignitas' turn as CT on this CT sided map set up a strong defence but fell quickly to Na'vi.  But Dignitas were soon brining it back to 11-11. As they went round for round Rubino especially showed great skill and patience keeping the pressure up on Na'vi and at 13-12 Dignitas were looking strong having broken their opponents economy and built up a bank and lead. Na'vi tool a tactical pause to try and comeback for a second time. However Dignitas quickly closed it out with beautifully placed cross fires that destroyed Na'vi's attempts.

It was a great match up between an up and coming and very consistent team and Na'vi's more volatile style that depends on daring individual performances. In the end with star performers under performing on Na'vi and Dignitas consistently performing well they are deserved finalists. Fantastic for Dignitas who had to qualify for the contest and weren't considered  serious threat while Na'vi have already admitted they need to work on some areas so will hopefully comeback stronger in the next tournament. 

Dignitas will face Virtus Pro at 18:00 CEST today in the grand final for the title!