Natus Vincere vs FaZe Gaming Preview: ESL Pro League Season 17 Playoffs

Natus Vincere and FaZe, the finalists of the PGL Major Antwerp Major, reunite for this Semifinal of ESL Pro League Season 17

In this corner, we have Natus Vincere — the team that at long last won a Major at the tail end of 2021 and went on to lose the Grand Final of the one after that. Over at the other corner, we have FaZe Clan — the superteam that ended Na’ Vi’s dominance and is on the brink of reasserting their own on what became their scene at the start of 2022. With two of the biggest teams in the world going head to head, this is a great chance to get started on CSGO betting with this preview to help, and you’ll enjoy it even if you’re just an avid fan looking for some info.

Na' Vi

It seems as though Na’ Vi get to their strongest any time people start to doubt them. This is the first tournament in a long time where they weren’t one of the favorites to win due to a roster in transition, yet despite a shaky Group Stage and a scare against underdogs 00 Nation to kick off their Playoffs campaign, the Ukrainians have clawed their way back and past heavyweights like Outsiders and Heroic. Now up against FaZe, a win for them against the Intel Grand Slam aspirants would be perfect revenge for the Major final they lost.

Players

Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev

• HLTV Rating: 1.24
• Impact Rating: 1.35
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 74.0%
• Average Damage Round: 85.8
• Kills Per Round: 0.85

Denis “electroNic” Sharipov

• HLTV Rating: 1.09
• Impact Rating: 1.19
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 71.7%
• Average Damage Round: 82.6
• Kills Per Round: 0.74

Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy

• HLTV Rating: 1.04
• Impact Rating: 0.87
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 73.2%
• Average Damage Round: 69.9
• Kills Per Round: 0.62

Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi

• HLTV Rating: 1.11
• Impact Rating: 1.10
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 72.0%
• Average Damage Round: 75.5
• Kills Per Round: 0.70

Andrii “npl” Kukharskyi

• HLTV Rating: 1.00
• Impact Rating: 0.97
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 70.2%
• Average Damage Round: 70.9
• Kills Per Round: 0.63

Player To Watch

There’s nothing as amazing as having a player on your team who can excel against even the toughest opponents, and the incredible GOAT s1mple is our pick on Na’ Vi for this match.

FaZe 

It’s not every day that you can secure a cool extra million dollars for your team, but FaZe are on the brink of just such a thing. Loaded with some of the biggest talents the scene has ever seen, FaZe are a bonafide powerhouse that’s extremely close to winning one of the most coveted prizes in the game. They did struggle somewhat in their match against forZe, but when push came to shove they stepped up and closed the game out. They’re possibly marginal favorites against Na’ Vi, but they’d do well not to let their guard down.

Players 

Håvard “rain” Nygaard

• HLTV Rating: 1.03
• Impact Rating: 1.16
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 69.9%
• Average Damage Round: 80.0
• Kills Per Round: 0.71

Helvijs “broky” Saukants

• HLTV Rating: 1.10
• Impact Rating: 1.01
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 72.7%
• Average Damage Round: 73.1
• Kills Per Round: 0.70

Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken

• HLTV Rating: 1.11
• Impact Rating: 1.08
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 73.8%
• Average Damage Round: 76.9
• Kills Per Round: 0.73

Finn “karrigan” Andersen

• HLTV Rating: 0.91
• Impact Rating: 0.92
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 66.9%
• Average Damage Round: 68.8
• Kills Per Round: 0.62

Robin “ropz” Kool

• HLTV Rating: 1.15
• Impact Rating: 1.10
• Kill/Assist/Survived/Traded: 72.5%
• Average Damage Round:78.4
• Kills Per Round:0.74

Player to Watch

The in-form AWPer broky gets our vote as the player to watch on FaZe courtesy of the consistent brilliance he has displayed at this event.

ESL Pro League Season 17 Playoffs: Natus Vincere vs FaZe Predictions

It’s going to be a thriller without a doubt, but as for results, we’re going with Na’ Vi. They look stronger with every game, and might just be able to take this all the way to the final with a 2-1 victory.

Maps 

We suspect that we’ll see Mirage, Anubis, and Nuke. Not necessarily in that order, and there’s a chance for Inferno as well, but those are our guesses.

Score 

Map 1: FaZe to win with Na’ Vi <11.

Map 2: Na’ Vi to win with FaZe >12.

Map 3: Na’ Vi to win with FaZe >12.

Top Fragger

There’s only one man that can win this for Na’ Vi, and that man, s1mple, is our pick for top fragger for this match.

ESL Pro League Season 17 Playoffs: Natus Vincere vs FaZe Match Links

If you’re not already watching ESL’s Twitch or YouTube channels by the time this match airs after 14:00 ET/13:00 CST/11:00 PT, well, go and watch it.

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