Na`Vi move past Liquid into IEM final

Natus Vincere have progressed to the grand final at IEM San Jose following a 2-0 victory over Team Liquid (16-7 on de_cobblestone and 16-14 on de_dust2).

The second IEM semi-final contest began on de_cobblestone, where Na`Vi came out the brighter of the two sides as they strolled to a 3-0 lead. A quad kill from Jonathan "⁠EliGE⁠" Jablonowski in the first gun round then gave Team Liquid their first round on the board, and they followed it up with a couple more rounds to reduce the deficit to 3-4.

It was then that Na`Vi were able to showcase their prowess as they won five rounds straight to force Team Liquid to call a timeout. The North Americans hoped that the pause would finally stop Na`Vi's momentum, but they merely managed to pick up one round, courtesy of a quad kill from Jacob "⁠FugLy⁠" Medina, as the CIS-based side closed out the half with a commanding 11-4 lead.

Na`Vi carried their momentum into the second half as they grew their lead by winning the pistol round and the following two anti-ecos, but then they were held off by Liquid during the first gun rounds. With the scoreline 14-7 in Na`Vi's favor, Ioann "⁠Edward⁠" Sukhariev pulled off three stunning entry frags in the B site to put his team on the verge of victory, which came in the following round.

Edward's clutch on dust2 turned the game on its head 

The map that followed, de_dust2, was almost the exact opposite, as Liquid took the reins of the game after a highly-contested initial period. With no fewer than seven consecutive rounds going their way, the North Americans were able to secure an 11-4 lead, and they followed it up by securing the first three rounds on the CT side.

And that is when insanity happened. An amazing 1vs4 clutch by Edward in the 22nd round swung the momentum in Na`Vi's favor. Despite Liquid's attempt to slow down the pace with a tactical pause, the European team picked up nine rounds in a row to overcome the deficit and secure a hard-fought 2-0 victory.

IEM San Jose 2015Best of 3 Natus VincereMatchpage 2 0 22nd November 2015 Liquid 16Cobblestone 7 16Dust2 14

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Ioann 'Edward' SukharievEdward	49 - 31	+18	-	1.43
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyevflamie	45 - 31	+14	-	1.32
Ladislav 'GuardiaN' KovácsGuardiaN	41 - 31	+10	-	1.13
Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoZeus	38 - 34	+4	-	1.04
Denis 'seized' Kostinseized	32 - 34	-2	-	0.95

Liquid	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 1.0
Nick 'nitr0' Cannellanitr0	39 - 42	-3	-	0.98
Spencer 'Hiko' MartinHiko	37 - 39	-2	-	0.94
Eric 'adreN' HoagadreN	34 - 41	-7	-	0.88
Jonathan 'EliGE' JablonowskiEliGE	30 - 45	-15	-	0.77
Jacob 'FugLy' MedinaFugLy	21 - 38	-17	-	0.66

Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski Age: 18 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 225 KPR: 0.76 DPR: 0.72 Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev Age: 27 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 668 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.67 Jacob 'FugLy' Medina Age: 20 Team: Liquid Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 251 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.65