Na´Vi hold SK to draw

Na´Vi came from behind to draw with SK Gaming 15-15 and remain in the race for a spot in the IEM5 playoffs.

Following a 16-9 defeat to Lions, Na´Vi were in a tough spot ahead of their match against SK Gaming, because a defeat against the Swedish team would practically rule them out of the tournament.

Having lost the knife round, Na´Vi were sent straight into the Terrorist side, and they had a really hard time to get past SK’s defence in the earlier stages, finding themselves down 5-0. The Ukrainian team then picked up a round, but saw SK return to winning ways immediately after. The rest of the first half went to SK, with the exception of two rounds, which Na´Vi won thanks to fast rushes onto outer bombsite.

SK in nine-round lead

With a 12-3 deficit, Na´Vi knew they had a mountain to climb to get the three points, and they started to make amends for a poor first half right in the pistol round as they stopped SK’s alley rush . The second and third rounds went Na´Vi’s way as SK opted not to buy, but in the fourth round, the Swedes added one round to their tally to become just three rounds away from victory. However, Na´Vi immediately got back into the back and just did not let their opponents get the momentum, picking up seven rounds in a row to tie the match on 13 rounds and force SK to call a timeout.

SK’s talk did not produce an immediate effect, though, as Na´Vi won the following round to get the lead for the first time in the match, but then the Swedes leveled it all again. Such a round was the driving force that SK were looking for, as the Swedish side won the next round to secure a match point. With the pressure now on Na´Vi, the  IEM4 champions kept their cool and cancelled out SK’s tactics in the last round to level the match 15-15.

IEM5 World ChampionshipBest of 0 SK GamingMatchpage 15 15 1st March 2011 Natus Vincere 15Train 15