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The top matches of ESL Pro League Season 21 do not end and there is a lot of The International ahead. One of the central matches of the game day on the 10th of March on ESL Pro League Season 21 will be a match between G2 and NaVi.
The match between G2 and NaVi will be played in a 2-1 basket. This means that the winner of the pair will go to the play-offs of the tournament, but we will see the loser.
Let's try to find out who from the pair G2 - NaVi will be stronger and will pass to the main stage of ESL Pro League Season 21.
Let's go.
NaVi Form
Let's open the G2 - NaVi match analysis with NaVi's form. In this match they play as favourites with odds to win around 1.7.
NaVi played a series of good tournaments last season while still in the previous squad. They placed high in almost every one.
They started with a top 6 at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023. Then top-3 at IEM Katowice 2023 and a similar result at ESL Pro League Season 17.
NaVi took BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A without any problems and qualified for the Major in Paris. Before the only Major of the season, Natus Vincere took the top 4 at the IEM Masters Rio 2023.
The Paris tournament turned out to be a failure for NaVi. Top-11 is hardly a decent result for a team of Natus Vincere's status.
- NaVi roster: w0nderful, b1t, Aleksib, jL, iM.
Before the Long Conner IEM Cologne NaVi made a global Reshuffle, translating the roster into English. In addition to electroNic, Perfecto and npl who left, jL with Apeks, iM with GamerLegion and Aleksib, who previously played for Ninjas in Pyjamas, joined the team.
With the new lineup, NaVi made their debut at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023. "Born to Win" managed to earn a place in the autumn finals by finishing in the top 4-6.
At IEM Cologne 2023 Natus Vincere played two matches. First, they lost to MOUZ with a score of 0-2, and then defeated OG in Bo3. At the end of the top championship NaVi reached the top 8, which can be called a good result for the then renewed roster.
Then there were a number of appearances at major events with very good results. NaVi entered the top 8 at Gamers8 and took the top 2 at ESL Pro Legue Season 18.
The key tournament of the season for "yellow-black" can be called IEM Sydney 2023. There NaVi for the first time in a long time played without their main headliner S1mple, whose place was temporarily taken by coach B1ad3. Andrew tried, but NaVi could not jump above the top-12.
After S1mple left the active roster, NaVi started the game with w0nderful. He made his debut for the Yellow-Blacks at BLAST Premier: World Final 2023. Natus Vincere played him very well, reaching the top 4. In the match for the Grand Final Ledgeili future champions of the tournament and the best team in the world Vitality.
The year 2024 started with high notes - they became the best at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European Qualifier A. However, further on, the performance slipped a bit and NaVi took the top-12 at ESL Pro League Season 19 and IEM Dallas 2024, as well as the top-2 at BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024.
Esports World Cup 2024 NaVi Long Competed with a solid 2-0 win over FURIA. Entering the play-offs, "born to win" fell to FaZe Clan in the first round. NaVi were again stronger than FaZe, but this time they won with the score 2-0. Then there was a rather difficult match against MOUZ, where NaVi lost on the first map with the score 1-13, but then they got together and made it to the grand final. In the final match they played against G2 Esports, where they won 2-1, thus winning their second prestigious tournament of the year.
At the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024 NaVi Long Competed with a confident victory over BIG. But against Liquid "born to win" did not fare well, losing in a dramatic situation without defuse kits on the 3rd map. In the re-match with BIG they were stronger again, confidently shutting down the German club with a score of 2-0. However, they failed to move further into the top 6 at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024.
At the ESL Pro League Season 20 NAVI became the winners of Group A, passing Lynn Vision, NiP and Eternal Fire without any problems. NaVi started the ESL Pro League Season 20 playoffs with a victory over their principal rival - Team Spirit - and a confident 2-0 win. Next, they defeated G2 Esports (2-1) and defeated Eternal Fire in the EPL S20 final with a score of 3-2.
At IEM Rio 2024 NaVi qualified from Group A in second place, Ledgeiv Furia. In the play-offs, they beat Vp (2-0) and Heroic (2-1) in turn. And in the grand finals NaVi defeated MOUZ (3-1), thus becoming the champion of a major tournament for the 4th time in a season.
However, NaVi did not manage to be the best everywhere and everywhere. For example, at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, where "Born to Win" failed to qualify for the play-offs.
At PW Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR A, NaVi won two matches, beating Fnatic and Sinners, but then lost to MOUZ in the match to qualify for the Major. However, they managed to reach the Elimination Stage at Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 at the second attempt, beating sAw 2-0.
Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024: Elimination Stage Natus Vincere Long They started with a victory over Liquid, and then lost to MIBR and Spirit. They knocked GamerLegion out of the tournament, but fell short against Heroic, leaving the World Championship one step away from the play-offs.
BLAST Bounty Season 1 Long They started off with a win over Imperial Female and then defeated Astralis. In play-offs they played against paiN and it was a very difficult match for the Ukrainian team, but still they won. And then - Spirit, losing 1-2 and TOP-4 in the end.
NaVi got to IEM Katowice 2025 by direct invitation, they started the group stage with a confident victory over FURIA with the score 2-0. Then a key 2-1 win over Spirit and an easy win against MongolZ in the match for seeding in the play-offs. However, after getting straight into the second round of play-offs, NaVi failed to cope with their eternal rival Spirit and ended up in the top 4.
At ESL Pro League Season 21, NaVi Long Sogpeg started with an unexpected defeat to sAw, but then, albeit with difficulty, managed to take the series against TYLOO and paiN.
NaVi Mappool
NaVi's best map in 3 months is Inferno. The team played there 5 times with a winrate of 60 per cent.
On Mirage, Ancient. Nuker, Overpass and Anubis NaVi has 50% wins. On Ancient and Nuke the team played 4 matches each, on the others - 2.
Vertigo are not playing.
G2 Esports uniforms
We continue the G2 vs NaVi match with G2 Esports analysis. In the match against NaVi, the Samurai play the number two with odds to win around 2.
Almost all of last year G2 Esports did not leave the podiums of major championships. Their rise as a TOP team started with BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023 and IEM Katowice 2023. Both championships G2 passed confidently and at two tournaments they deservedly became champions.
Next, the "samurai" were stormy. Last season ESL Pro League Season 17 G2 Esports finished on the 9-12 line, which is clearly not the level of the team that recently won Katowice 2023.
After a frankly weak performance at EPL Season 17 G2 Esports played at BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. In Paris, NiKo and company had a real fiasco, as the tournament for them ended at the TOP-14 stage, which certainly did not fit into G2's plans.
- G2 Esports line-up: huNter, NiKo, m0nesy, malbsMd, Snax.
Prior to ESL Pro League Season 18, G2 Esports made their mark on several other major tournaments. These were BLAST Premier: Spring Finals and Fall Groups, where G2 took top 4 and top 8 respectively.
Next up was IEM Cologne 2023 and finally a win. In the Grand Final they beat ENCE 3-1, thus taking another IEM title for the year.
The last championship was Gamers8. The biggest commercial tournament of the season ended with G2 Esports in the top 4.
G2 Esports started off ESL Pro League Season 18 with a betting tirerable win. They beat Lynn Vision 2-0 in their opening match, but to be fair, they were close to a fiasco on the first map. However, G2 Esports subsequently made it to the play-offs, and straight into the quarter-finals, where they met MOUZ. The Mice outplayed G2 Esports and later became EPL S18 champions.
G2 Esports attended two more events before competing at BLAST Premier: World Finals 2023. These were BLAST Premier: Fall European Showdown 2023 and IEM Sydney 2023. Both tournaments saw the team finish in the Top 4 stage. There was also CCT Online Finals #5, where G2 showed a frankly mediocre result. The titular European club failed to make it to the Top 2 and get a slot to the Global Finals, and settled for only Top 4.
Prior to the PGL CS 2 Major Copenhagen 2024 Europe RMR G2 Esports played at three top tournaments before the Long Convergence PGL CS 2 Major Copenhagen 2024 Europe RMR G2 Esports. BLAST Premier: World Final 2023, BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024 and IEM Katowice 2024 and they finished in the top 6. Looks good, but it's still not the same for the G2 Esports level.
Then PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European RMR A G2 Esports played at their level. The level that you expect from them, i.e. Top 2 and a slot in the Copenhagen CS2 Major Legends.
Later G2 Esports played at the PGL CS2 Major Copenhagen, where they managed to reach the play-offs and at the end of the championship took the top 4. In the semi-finals they lost to future champions NaVi.
G2 Esports played at IEM China 2024, where the "samurai" managed to reach the TOP-4. Later they played at ESL Pro League Season 19, where they reached TOP-8, Ledgeiv to the future champions from MOUZ.
G2 Esports attended IEM Dallas 2024, where they managed to snatch a win with a 2-1 win over Vitality in the grand finals. They also played BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024, where they finished in the top 8.
Esports World Cup 2024 G2 Esports started off with a solid win over MongolZ, even though the latter struggled. Next was a match against Team Spirit, which the Samurai won again, beating one of the strongest teams in the world with a score of 2-1. Later G2 defeated Vp, but in the grand finals Ledge and NaVi with the score 1-2.
Further G2 Esports played almost all top tournaments on Counter-Strike 2. They played at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024, where they finished in TOP 1-4, as well as at IEM Cologne 2024, where they finished in TOP 6.
At ESL Pro League Season 20, the team won Group B, beating KOI, 3DMAX and MIBR. In the play-offs, they went straight to the quarter-finals, where they defeated Liquid. However, G2's path was interrupted at the TOP-4 stage: they defeated NaVi, who later became the tournament champions.
A little later, G2 managed to get revenge on NaVi by defeating Born to Win in the grand finals of BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024. However, it was not possible to translate the victories at the autumn finals into a winning streak, because at the IEM Rio Masters 2024 G2 Esports took the TOP-13-16.
However, G2 Esports went on to play at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, where they triumphed, winning another trophy at the BLAST Championship Series. In the final, they stomped Spirit by a score of 3-0.
The way to the Major at G2 Esports Long started with a victory over NiP. Then they beat 9 Pandas without any problems. But in the match for the Major with a score of 3-0, G2 Esports sensationally lost to 3DMax, although later they took the series against Spirit and went to the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 with a score of 3-1.
Elimination Stage PW Shanghai Major 2024 Long started with a loss to MongolZ, but then defeated BIG and 3DMax. In the play-offs, G2 Esports defeated FaZe Clan. Heroic beat Heroic in the first round of play-offs, but then Ledge beat FaZe, leaving the tournament in the top 4.
In the 2025 season, G2 Esports attended BLAST Bounty Spring 2025, where they again finished in the top 4, again losing to FaZe. They also attended IEM Katowice 2025, where they finished in the top 4.
At the ESL Pro League Season 21 Long Long Sogpeg started with a win against paiN. Next lost to MongolZ, but then beat sAw.
G2 Esports Mappool
G2's main map is Ancient. G2 played 8 matches there, of which they won 6.
Then comes Anubis (3 games, 2 wins), Vertigo (5 matches, 3 wins), Inferno (12 matches, 58% wins).
G2 Esports has no minus winnings on mapx. Among the "worst" choices are Nuke (7 matches, 4 wins), Mirage (4 wins, 4 losses).
History of head-to-head meetings between NaVi and G2 Esports
Over the past year, the teams have played each other 5 times. G2 have won only once, but it was the most recent match, at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024.
Predicted result of NaVi vs G2 at ESL Pro League Season 21
I expect G2 Esports to win this match. At ESL Pro League Season 21, NaVi look very sluggish, and the same can be said about G2, but I still favour the latter.
Bottom line: G2 wins.
