Welcome to all esports and Counter-Strike 2 fans! From November 3 to November 9, 2025, one of the biggest tournaments of this autumn — IEM Chengdu 2025 will take place. Sixteen teams will compete for the championship title and a prize pool of $300,000. Among the matches of the first game day, we highlight Astralis vs NAVI, which promises to be a very exciting one. While the teams are preparing, we’ll share our CS2 betting tips and insights for this match.
How the bookies view it: NAVI favorite
Most bookmakers consider NAVI the favorites in the match against Astralis at IEM Chengdu 2025. The team is one of the strongest this season and has achieved many victories.
Astralis form. What result can be expected from Astralis
Our betting tips and CS2 picks for the Astralis vs NAVI matchup begin with analyzing Astralis form. CS fans surely know this team, as they have achieved many victories at the highest level. As usual, we start our form analysis with the 2023 season. The team began it quite successfully, taking 4-6th place at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2023 and immediately following it up with a victory at the Tier-B tournament CCT Season 1 North Europe Series #3.
Astralis continued the season by playing in qualifiers and A-tier events, and things seemed to be going well. They successfully qualified for the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 and won the CCT Season 1 South Europe Series #4, but then the team slightly lost form. The best achievement of the 2024 season for Astralis was 3-4th place at Intel Extreme Masters Cologne 2023.
Astralis roster: dev1ce, Staehr, jabbi, HooXi, Magisk.
The 2024 season began for Astralis with a showmatch and qualifiers. Then there were two attempts to get to the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024, but both were unsuccessful: TOP-11 at European RMR B and TOP-6 at European RMR Decider put an end to Astralis' participation in the home Major.
In the first match of IEM China 2024, Astralis played against steel helmet, as Monte could not make it to China. And if Monte had played there, the score would hardly have been as lopsided as 13-2 in Astralis’ favor. However, judging by the match against FaZe, where Astralis were a cut above and beat the world’s top team 2-0, perhaps Astralis were really fired up for IEM China 2024. In the playoffs of the tournament, Astralis met FaZe Clan again, but this time were the weaker team and lost 1-2, exiting the tournament.
Astralis took part in ESL Pro League Season 19, where they reached the top 4 but lost to Vitality in the match for a grand final spot. The team later achieved similar results at the CCT Season 1 Global Finals and YaLLa Compass 2024.
At BLAST Premier: Spring Finals 2024, Astralis played in Group A, where they finished in third place. They advanced to the playoffs but lost to VP and exited the tournament at the TOP-6 stage. After that, Astralis played at IEM Cologne 2024, where they placed 12th.
In the long season of ESL Pro League Season 20, they lost to Fnatic (1-2), then to CoL (0-2). They ended ESL Pro League Season 20 just as badly as they started — with another loss to CoL and elimination at the TOP-28 stage.
Next, Astralis competed at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2024, where they placed TOP-8, and at Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024, where they ended their run in the TOP-12. As you can see, their attempts were unsuccessful.
The team returned to good form at the BLAST Premier: World Final 2024, leaving behind MOUZ, FaZe, and NaVi. After winning Group A, Astralis advanced directly to the semifinals. However, their journey at BLAST Premier: World Final 2024 ended there, as Spirit advanced to the grand final instead.
At PW Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR B, Astralis Long Sogpeg started with a loss to 9 Pandas, then lost to Sashi Esports. Only in the third match against B8 did the team manage to regroup. However, this "music" quickly ended, and Astralis failed to qualify for Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024.
The 2025 season began with Astralis hoping to return to the top of professional CS2. So far, their best results are 3rd place at PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025 and 2nd place at PGL Astana 2025 and FISSURE Playground #1.
Astralis started IEM Cologne 2025 with a 2-0 win over B8, then lost 0-2 to FURIA and beat paiN Gaming 2-1, which allowed them to advance to the Group Stage of the tournament.
In the Group Stage, Astralis suffered two defeats and were eliminated from the tournament, finishing 13-16th.
Astralis performed successfully at BLAST Bounty Fall 2025: Closed Qualifier — the team secured victories over Rare Atom and Natus Vincere, earning a slot in the main event.
At BLAST Bounty Fall 2025, Astralis lost to MOUZ and were eliminated from the tournament in the TOP-8.
The next tournament for Astralis was Esports World Cup 2025, where they lost their first match to Tyloo and finished TOP-16.
At ESL Pro League Season 22, Astralis passed Stage 1 with a score of 3-2, but in Stage 2 they played 0-3 and were eliminated from the tournament, finishing in 15th-16th place.
At PGL Masters Bucharest 2025, Astralis played with a 2–3 record in the Group Stage and were eliminated from the tournament, finishing in 9–11th place.
NAVI form. What result can be expected from NAVI
We continue our CS2 tips with analyzing NAVI form. Traditionally, we begin our analysis with the 2023 season. NaVi participated in the BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023: European RMR A and qualified for the Major in Paris.
Before the Major, Natus Vincere placed top-4 at IEM Masters Rio 2023. The Paris tournament turned out to be a failure for NaVi — a top-11 finish can hardly be called a worthy result for a top-tier team.
NAVI roster: w0nderful, b1t, Aleksib, makazze, iM.
Before IEM Cologne, NaVi conducted a global reshuffle, updating the team’s roster. electroNic, Perfecto, and npl were replaced by jL from Apeks, iM from GamerLegion, and Aleksib, who had previously played for Ninjas in Pyjamas.
With the new roster, NaVi debuted at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023. "Born to Win" managed to qualify for the Fall Final, placing 4th–6th.
At IEM Cologne 2023, Natus Vincere played quite well, but below their usual level. They first lost 0-2 to MOUZ, then defeated OG in a Bo3. At the end of this top-tier championship, NaVi finished top-8 — a good result for the updated roster at the time.
The main result of the 2023 season for Natus Vincere was 2nd place at ESL Pro League Season 18, followed by a 3rd–4th place finish at BLAST Premier: World Final 2023.
2024 started on a positive note — the team was the best at PGL Major Copenhagen 2024: European Qualifier A. But then their form slightly dipped: top-12 at ESL Pro League Season 19 and IEM Dallas 2024, as well as second place at BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2024.
It is worth noting NAVI’s first title win of the 2024 season — PGL Major Copenhagen 2024. The team was simply unstoppable and on their way to the championship defeated teams such as G2 Esports and FaZe Clan.
NAVI hit good form at the Esports World Cup 2024 — the main tournament of the season. At EWC 2024, NaVi started with a confident 2-0 win over FURIA. Reaching the playoffs, "Born to Win" once again faced FaZe Clan. This time, NaVi defeated FaZe 2-0. Then came a tough match against MOUZ, where NaVi lost the first map 1-13 but pulled themselves together and reached the grand final. In the final, they faced G2 Esports and won 2-1, securing their second prestigious title of the season.
At ESL Pro League Season 20, NaVi won Group A, easily defeating Lynn Vision, NiP, and Eternal Fire. In the playoffs, the team started with a 2-0 victory over archrivals Team Spirit, then beat G2 Esports (2-1), and in the final overcame Eternal Fire with a score of 3-2.
At IEM Rio 2024, NaVi advanced from Group A in second place, losing only to FURIA. In the playoffs, they defeated VP (2-0) and Heroic (2-1). In the grand final, NaVi outplayed MOUZ (3-1), earning their fourth major trophy of the season.
At PW Shanghai Major 2024: European RMR A, NaVi won two matches — against Fnatic and Sinners, but then lost to MOUZ in the deciding match. However, on the second attempt, NaVi reached the Elimination Stage of the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024 by defeating sAw 2-0.
In the elimination stage, NaVi began with a win over Liquid, then lost to MIBR and Spirit, after which they knocked out GamerLegion, but lost to Heroic, leaving the world championship just one step short of the playoffs.
The 2025 season began successfully for NaVi with a strong performance at BLAST Bounty Spring 2025: Closed Qualifier, where they made it to the top 8 and secured a tournament slot. At BLAST Bounty Spring 2025, the team also performed well and placed 3rd–4th.
Among the main achievements of Natus Vincere in the 2025 season so far are 3rd–4th place finishes at IEM Katowice 2025 and IEM Cologne 2025.
After unsuccessful performances at BLAST Bounty Fall 2025: Closed Qualifier and CS2 Esports World Cup 2025, NAVI are ready to redeem themselves with a victory at StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025. Although there were no world-class teams among the opponents, their performance at this tournament definitely boosted the team’s confidence.
NAVI played moderately at ESL Pro League Season 22, finishing in 5–8th place.
The team also participated in the Thunderpick World Championship 2025, where they took 2nd place.
Recent head to head
Matches between Astralis and NAVI have always drawn a lot of attention. The teams have played each other 21 times — Astralis won 7 matches, while NAVI won 14 times. The match at IEM Chengdu 2025 isn’t a decisive one, but both teams will definitely want to start the tournament on a strong note.
Which maps does Astralis pick and ban most often?
Let’s analyze both teams map statistics to make smart CS2 picks.
Strong maps
- Nuke: high win percentage (61.9%) with 42 matches played.
- Ancient: high win percentage (61.3%) with 31 matches played.
- Inferno: high win percentage (56.4%) with 39 matches played.
Average results
- Train: average winning percentage (42.9%) with 14 matches played.
Weak maps
- Mirage: low win percentage (39.4%) with 33 matches played.
- Dust2: low win percentage (25.0%) with 20 matches played.
Which maps does NAVI pick and ban most often?
Strong maps
- Train: high win percentage (75.0%) with 12 matches played.
- Mirage: high win percentage (67.7%) with 31 matches played.
- Inferno: high win percentage (66.7%) with 27 matches played.
Average results
- Ancient: average winning percentage (54.2%) with 24 matches played.
- Dust2: average winning percentage (50.0%) with 16 matches played.
Weak maps
- Nuke: low win percentage (43.5%) with 23 matches played.
- Anubis: low win percentage (16.7%) with 6 matches played.
Predicted result of the match between Astralis and NAVI at PGL IEM Chengdu 2025
Most analysts and experts consider NAVI the favorites in the match against Astralis at IEM Chengdu 2025. Although the team has had a rather average season, they still manage to earn victories and podium finishes at top-tier tournaments. However, Astralis shouldn’t be underestimated — they are one of the most renowned teams and are capable of defeating strong opponents. In our opinion, based on previous results, NAVI are likely to win this match. Fans can expect a dynamic and exciting game.
Betting prediction: NAVI wins.
