NAVI is the first grand finalist of IEM Cologne 2022

The NaVi team turned out to be stronger than Astralis with a score of 2:0, thanks to which they made it to the grand finals of IEM Cologne 2022. The meeting, surprising in its intensity, ended with a strong return of the Born to Win on the Mirage map. In turn, the Danish team leaves the championship and goes on a monthly break, earning $80,000 and 1,000 BLAST Premier points.

The first semi-final of the competition started on the Nuke map, which became the choice of the Danish team. However, Astralis clearly overestimated its capabilities, as it could not recover for a long time, for which it paid with a small number of rounds won in the attack. After the change of sides, the Danes still tried to return to the game and revive the intrigue, but to no avail. As a result, NAVI confidently got the necessary rounds, and at the same time took the lead in the series — 16:8.

Next, the teams moved to the Mirage map, which became the choice of the Born to Win. Now the Danish team began to impose their game, seizing the initiative in the first rounds. As a result, Astralis played confidently on defense, as it seemed, starting to prepare for the third map. However, after the side switch, NAVI managed to return to the game, having made a powerful comeback and equalized the final score. Well, in the overtime series, "Born to Win" finally broke the opponent, thanks to which they made it to the grand final of IEM Cologne 2022 - 19:17.

In the grand final of the championship, the NAVI team will play with the winner of the FaZe Clan match - Movistar Riders, which will start very soon.

IEM Cologne 2022 takes place from 5 to 17 July in Germany at the Hyatt Regency Cologne and LANXESS arena venues. As part of the championship, 24 teams from Europe, the CIS, Oceania, China, North and South America are fighting for a prize pool of $1,000,000, as well as rating points in the BLAST Premier table.

Interim results of IEM Cologne 2022

• 1st place: $400,000 + 3,200 BLAST Premier points
• 2nd place: $180,000 + 1,600 BLAST Premier points
• 3rd-4th place: Astralis — $80,000 + 1,000 BLAST Premier points
• 5th-6th place: MOUZ and Team Liquid — $40,000 + 300 BLAST Premier points
• 7th-8th place: Ninjas in Pajamas and FURIA Esports — $24,000 + 300 BLAST Premier points
• 9th-12th place: Team Vitality, Team Spirit, Cloud9 and G2 Esports — $16,000
• 13th-16th place: Heroic, Outsiders, 00NATION and ENCE — $10,000
• 17th-20th place: Sprout, TYLOO, Imperial Esports and BIG - $4,500
• 21st-24th place: paiN Gaming, Complexity Gaming, MIBR and ORDER — $2,500