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 second game day, we highlight HEROIC 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 HEROIC at IEM Chengdu 2025. The team is one of the strongest this season and has achieved many victories.
HEROIC form. What result can be expected from HEROIC
Our betting tips and CS2 picks for the HEROIC vs NAVI matchup begin with analyzing HEROIC form. In the 2023 season, Heroic looked very solid. They consistently participated in top-tier tournaments and were a serious force on the scene.
HEROIC showed a series of strong performances. Among their best results were 2nd place at IEM Rio 2023, top 4 at BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023 and IEM Dallas 2023. The team also won the BLAST Premier: Spring Final 2023 and finished top 3 at the BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2023.
HEROIC roster: nilo, LNZ, yxngstxr, alkarenn, xfl0ud.
At IEM Cologne 2023, HEROIC were among the main contenders for the title. They reached the playoffs but couldn’t get past the first round, losing to Astralis 0-2.
At the Gamers8 tournament, the team debuted against Falcons. Overall, the match ended as expected, although the French team put up a fight, especially on the first map (Mirage — 22:18 in favor of Heroic). The second map was won by Heroic 16:10.
In their previous match, Heroic faced GamerLegion. Despite GL not looking very threatening, they managed to "stress out" the Danes and even took a map, but still lost in the end.
Heroic ended their Gamers8 run with a match against ENCE. The Danish club once again couldn’t beat the Finns and left the major at the top-4 stage.
In the 2024 season, Heroic faced many challenges and didn’t start the year as well as the previous one. They still attended top tournaments, but the results were slightly worse: top 16 at BLAST Premier: Spring Groups 2024, top 8 at IEM Chengdu 2024, top 28 at ESL Pro League Season 9, top 6 at IEM Dallas 2024, and top 8 at YaLLa Compass 2024. The series of championship appearances continued: Heroic played at BLAST Premier: Fall Groups 2024 (top 12), IEM Cologne 2024 (top 20), and BLAST Premier: Fall Showdown 2024 (top 16). In October 2024, Heroic were close to winning a title, reaching the final of Elisa Masters Espoo 2024, but lost to ENCE in the grand final.
In the Elimination Stage at the Perfect World Shanghai Major 2024, Heroic defeated BIG and FaZe, going 2-0. In the match for playoff qualification, Heroic lost to MongolZ, then to Spirit. However, they managed to reach the main stage of the tournament after defeating the reigning world champions — NaVi. But in their first playoff match, Heroic lost to G2, who knocked them out of the championship race.
The 2025 season began for HEROIC with qualifiers and several S-tier tournament appearances. At BLAST Bounty Spring 2025, they finished in the top 8. Then came IEM Katowice 2025, where the result was even worse — the team finished in the top 20.
HEROIC performed best this year at A-tier tournaments, winning CCT Season 2 Global Finals and MESA Nomadic Masters Spring 2025.
At BLAST Bounty Fall 2025: Closed Qualifier, HEROIC won their first-round match against Complexity Gaming 2-1, but then lost to Aurora Gaming and were eliminated from the tournament, finishing 9-16th.
At the Esports World Cup 2025 in the Round of 16, they unexpectedly defeated Team Spirit 2-1, but later lost to Aurora Gaming again and were eliminated, finishing in the top 8, which can be considered a decent result for them.
At ESL Pro League Season 22, HEROIC performed poorly — the team ended Stage 1 with a 1-3 record and was eliminated from the tournament, finishing in the top 22.
HEROIC redeemed themselves at CS Asia Championships 2025, defeating several strong teams and securing 4th place.
HEROIC also participated in PGL Masters Bucharest 2025 and played at a decent level. In the Group Stage, the team went 3-0, but in the first playoff match, they lost to GL and were eliminated from the tournament, finishing 5th–8th.
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
HEROIC and NAVI have faced each other 22 times, with the former winning 9 matches and the latter securing 13 victories. The match at IEM Chengdu 2025 is crucial, as the losing team will be eliminated from the tournament.
Which maps does HEROIC pick and ban most often?
Let’s analyze both teams map statistics to make smart CS2 picks.
Strong maps
- Mirage: high win percentage (63.6%) with 33 matches played.
- Anubis: high win percentage (63.2%) with 19 matches played.
Average results
- Dust2: average winning percentage (51.3%) with 39 matches played.
- Inferno: average winning percentage (50.0%) with 6 matches played.
- Nuke: average winning percentage (50.0%) with 28 matches played.
- Train: average winning percentage (50.0%) with 12 matches played.
Weak maps
- Ancient: low win percentage (48.6%) with 35 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 (68.8%) with 32 matches played.
- Inferno: high win percentage (64.3%) with 28 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 (41.7%) with 24 matches played.
- Anubis: low win percentage (16.7%) with 6 matches played.
Predicted result of the match between HEROIC and NAVI at IEM Chengdu 2025
Most analysts and experts consider NAVI the favorites in the match against HEROIC at IEM Chengdu 2025. Although the team has had a rather average season, they still manage to secure victories and podium finishes at top-tier tournaments. However, HEROIC should not be underestimated — this season, the team has shown noticeable progress, occasionally reaching the top ranks at major events. In our opinion, NAVI will win this match, but it won’t be an easy one. Which team are you supporting?
Betting prediction: NAVI wins.
