NAVI Junior finish second at Roman Imperium Cup IX, lose to FaZe

The NAVI Junior Counter-Strike 2 roster finished second at the Roman Imperium Cup IX LAN in Portugal, Natus Vincere said on Oct. 10. They beat Sangal 2-1 in the lower-bracket final, then lost the grand final 2-0 to FaZe Clan and earned €3,000.

Group stage and early playoffs

NAVI Junior were ranked 94th in Europe in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), Valve’s team rankings, before the event. They went 4-1 in their group. Their wins:

• SAW (#35 VRS EU)won 16-14 on Anubis
• Lazer Cats (#58)won
• Sangal (#33)won
• FC Famalicão (#158)won

NAVI said the team entered the playoffs ranked 66th in VRS Europe. They then beat the Ukrainian team WBT (#45), which features DemQQ, and G2 Ares (#94).

Two series against FaZe

In the upper-bracket final, NAVI Junior met FaZe Clan (#25 VRS EU), the strongest team at the event according to NAVI. It was the academy roster’s first match against a tier-1 opponent.

NAVI Junior won Anubis, their own pick, 13-9, and lost Nuke 13-10. On the deciding Dust II they came within a single round of winning, but FaZe forced overtime and took the map 19-15.

Lower bracket and grand final

NAVI Junior then beat Sangal 2-1 in the lower-bracket final to reach the grand final, their second win over Sangal at the event. FaZe won the rematch 2-0.

NAVI said the match against FaZe Clan drew more than 19,000 peak viewers on the English-language broadcast. It calls the silver the team’s first major success.

Roster

NAVI named the roster that played in Portugal:

• kodak
• yoki
• MahaR
• FAZERY
• skizzyee
• snatchie (coach)

NAVI credited Liquipedia for the group stage table.