NAVI breathe easier in the Major race: 2-0 in Bucharest after beating G2 and FURIA

A week ago, NAVI arrived in Bucharest with their historic streak at risk: the club has never missed a Major and had slipped to 33rd in the VRS ranking. Two matches later, the picture has changed. NAVI are 2-0 at PGL Masters Bucharest and have clawed back ground in the race to Singapore.

A nail-biter against G2

The first match was the most delicate, against a G2 side that also had plenty at stake. NAVI won Nuke 13-11, on a map HLTV described as chaotic and on which G2 lost both pistol rounds.

Dust2 was even tighter. huNter- and HeavyGod kept G2 in the game with high-level plays, and the map went to a third overtime, where NAVI finally won 22-19. Aleksib was his team's highest-rated player with a 1.28 rating, in a week in which he had also made headlines over the tax fraud charge he faces in Finland, which he denies.

The win paid off immediately: 83 VRS points and a ten-place climb, enough for projections to put NAVI just inside the Major invite spots.

FURIA, the second victim

On Sunday came a stronger opponent: FURIA, freshly crowned Thunderpick World Championship winners. NAVI won with more authority: 13-10 on Ancient and 13-5 on Dust2, with b1t as the match's best player.

BETBOOM today; Lisbon next

NAVI face BETBOOM today at 18:00, the Thunderpick finalists who knocked over Spirit in the first round. The winner qualifies for the Bucharest playoffs.

That's where the calendar problem discussed all week comes in. NAVI are signed up for HyperX Retake Season 13, which starts in Lisbon on 29 October, while PGL Masters Bucharest runs until the 31st. If the team keeps advancing in Romania, the clash stops being theoretical, and so far there's been no word on how they plan to handle it.

The final VRS ranking for Major invitations is published on 2 November, the same day IEM Beijing begins.

Source: HLTV, eGamersWorld, RG.org.