Virtus.pro showed that they own CIS Dota 2 with a commanding 2-0 victory over one-time crowd favorite Natus Vincere (Na'Vi). This means Na'Vi will fail to qualify for yet another premier Dota 2 tournament.
While that alone wouldn't be the biggest surprise, Na'Vi looked like they could pull off the upset. They became a true Cinderella story of the CIS regional qualifiers when they started the Group stage 1-3 and finished 5-4 to make it into the elimination tournament. After they dropped into the losers bracket after their very first match (also against Virtus.pro), many expected them to roll over.
But, Na'Vi hung around, firing off two upset wins against Team Spirit and Team Empire to set up a revenge game against Virtus Pro.
Disappointingly, Na'VI was simply outclassed in the finals, much more so than they were the first game they played against Virtus Pro, losing 2-0 in lopsided affairs. Their struggles were perhaps perfectly encapsulated by a team fight where their Enigma airballed his Black Hole after a gank gone wrong.
All this being said, Na'Vi beat every other team in this bracket except for VP, so they likely would have qualified for the Major had Virus.pro been given a direct invite, as many expected them to do. Still, though, I doubt that is much consolation for a Na'Vi team that is in flux and in need of a confidence booster after a string of disappointing defeats and no-shows.
