Vitality Overcome NAVI in Thrilling Finale to Win IEM Cologne 2024

From 16 to 18 August 2024, Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) esports fans across the globe watched as the final six teams competed in the  IEM Cologne 2024  playoffs in front of a roaring crowd at the Theater of Counter-Strike, aka the LANXESS Arena in Cologne, Germany.

Those who couldn't be part of the crowd (like Alexandra Hobbs!) or couldn't watch the action unfold live might want to know what happened in the Grand Final. Well, we've got you covered with an overview of the Grand Final between NAVI and Team Vitality, alongside some highlights so good you'll probably want to watch a few times!

NAVI vs. Team Vitality Grand Finale | IEM Cologne 2024 

For over a decade, Team Vitality's French IGL, Dan "apEX" Madesclaire, has aimed to lift an IEM Cologne trophy. He's been to two IEM Cologne finals but has never won, and it was one of his goals to win either IEM Cologne or IEM Katowice.

On 18 August 2024, Team Vitality and NAVI walked onto the stage in the iconic arena to battle for glory and the coveted IEM Cologne trophy. Things got off to a fantastic start for Team Vitality, who pulled ahead 8-4 on NAVI's map pick of Nuke in the first half.

Read More: Vitality ZywOo, "Our Strength Is Our Mentality, We Never Give Up"

Then, NAVI pulled it back with eight wins on the CT side against only four rounds of Vitality, forcing overtime. In overtime on Nuke, it appeared that NAVI would pull ahead, but then Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut pulled off a 2v1 clutch to win the 4th round of overtime.

After the clutch, NAVI didn't win a round, and Vitality closed out Nuke 16-14 to put themselves 1-0 ahead in the grand finale.

On Vitality's map pick, Dust2, NAVI slowly pulled ahead and narrowly won the first half 7-5. When the teams switched sides, NAVI's Ukrainian AWPer, Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov, took matters into his own hands on the CT side for a pistol round win, with four kills with the USP-S! 

Vitality couldn't recover and completely close the gap, as NAVI won Dust2 with a 13-10 score and tied up the IEM Cologne 2024 Grand Final 1-1. 

The third map was Mirage, and many fans thought NAVI would take it since Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen's side had won 12 in a row against top pro teams. NAVI pulled ahead slightly at the end of the first half, thanks to an excellent 2v1 clutch from Romanian entry fragger Mihai "iM" Ivan.

Despite the odds not being in their favor, Dan "apEX" Madesclaire rallied the troops and equalized, making a comeback in the second half to push Mirage into overtime. In the first overtime, it was ZywOo who put Vitality ahead with a 2v1 clutch on the CT side after the bomb was planted.

A winner could not be decided in the first two overtimes, thanks to heroics from the likes of Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov, who saved NAVI from defeat at the end of the 2nd overtime with a 2v1 clutch.

In the 3rd overtime, Team Vitality finally shut down NAVI to win Mirage 22-20 in an absolute slugfest of a map.

The fourth map of the Grand Finale was Inferno, Vitality's 2nd pick for the match. It did look like Team Vitality broke NAVI on Mirage, as Dan "apEX" Madesclaire led his team to an insurmountable 10-2 lead on the T side of Inferno. While NAVI did pull back quite a few rounds, they couldn't close the distance on Vitality, who ended up winning Inferno 13-9, and the series 3-1.

For their immense efforts, Team Vitality wins $400,000 in prize money and earns direct invites to both the BLAST Premier World Final and IEM Katowice 2025.

In case you want to watch the entire final day of IEM Cologne 2024, you can check out the embedded video below, featuring nine hours of footage of the final day, including the showmatch, the complete Grand Finale, interviews, and analyst discussions. Enjoy!

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