Can someone stop NAVI at ESL Pro League Season 14? Group C Preview

NAVI went on vacation on a positive note: the team easily got rid of G2 in the IEM Cologne final and became the winner of the first LAN championship in a long time. If there was a pause of a week or two between this tournament and ESL Pro League Season 14, it would be possible to put the CIS team in first place in the group in absentia. However, things may not be so obvious now. In addition, NAVI often accelerate during the championship and can skid a little in the first matches. Luckily for the fans of the band Alexandra s1mple Kostyleva, this time the defeat in the first match seems almost an incredible outcome, because NAVI’s rival will be Fnatic – perhaps the main outsider of the group.

Fnatic has been systematically falling apart throughout the season. The team either did not get to major championships at all, or took the last places at them, taking with them at best one victory. As a result, Fnatic dropped to 65th place in the HLTV.org rating. Realizing that the team was going to the very bottom, the management made replacements in the roster, transferring the team’s legend to the reserve Jesper JW Bills and 27-year-old Maikila Golden Selima… In their place came the British Alex ALEX McMeekin and William Mezii Merriman, who previously played for Cloud9. Firstly, Fnatic has now ceased to be a completely Swedish team, which will certainly affect in-game communication at least in the first months, and secondly, the newcomers can hardly be called a serious strengthening. Mezii has no achievements at all on the professional scene, and ALEX was never able to build a line-up in Cloud9 and return to the peak of its form. Therefore, it is not necessary to expect that the permutations in the roster will give an instant positive effect. Parimatch bookmakers also believe that the first match for NAVI will be an easy walk.

NAVI (1.20) vs Fnatic (4.20)

But already in the next match NAVI will have a more serious opponent – mousesports. The team did not show themselves in the best way at IEM Cologne: the roster did not leave the group, losing to Gambit and Team Liquid. However, in both matches, mousesports fought with dignity and was able to take a card from each of the opponents. But in general, during the season, the team showed good results and is now on the 12th line in the HLTV.org ranking.

Mousesports’ main weapon is still a couple of young and insanely talented players – Robin ropz Kohl and David frozen Chernyansky… Both are in good shape this season and have high personal stats. Although, of course, for NAVI, the European team looks like a rather pleasant rival. Firstly, mousesports lost to the Ukrainian team in the last four head-to-head meetings. Secondly, the ropz roster is rather mediocre on Vertigo and Overpass, two maps that NAVI are also trying to avoid. Therefore, from the point of view of the map pool, mousesports is unlikely to be able to surprise the team from the CIS with anything. However, the European roster should not be completely discounted. Ropz, who in the end never left for another team in the summer, will surely return super-motivated and charged, which means he can fray NAVI’s nerves.

NAVI (1.32) vs mousesports (3.20)

BIG has long established itself as the solid middle peasant of the professional scene. The team is not expected to win at major tournaments, but it always demonstrates a good level and at the same time can seriously annoy the favorites. BIG showed a good level during the season and even held the fourth place in the HLTV.org rankings for some time, but at IEM Cologne could not reach the playoffs.

BIG’s main problem before the start of ESL Pro League Season 14, of course, is the loss of XANTARES, one of the leaders of the team. His place in the roster was taken by the Danish gade, who has played for North in recent years, which has not achieved much success for a long time. This replacement, of course, will negatively affect BIG’s combat effectiveness in the match against NAVI. However, the German team still has one trump card in its sleeve – the mappool. BIG feels great on Overpass and Vertigo, both NAVIs will not be able to ban them. Most likely, Vertigo will fly to the ban, and on Overpass the s1mple roster is not so good. Thanks to this, BIG can catch on one map, but it will still be problematic to win the streak. Parimatch analysts think so.

NAVI (1.28) vs BIG (3.45)

EG is one of the most controversial opponents of NAVI in the group stage. The American team is obviously not in the best shape now. Moreover, the black stripe has been stretching for a very long time. The loss of a coach, substitutions in the line-up and the fall to the 21st line of the HLTV.org rating quite eloquently describe the situation in the team. At IEM Cologne, the roster was eliminated at the Play-In stage, having won only the match against the Chinese from Vici for the entire tournament.

After all these perturbations, it is generally difficult to say who Evil Geniuses are. In addition, NAVI last met EG in 2019 at EPICENTER, and then the American roster won with a score of 2: 0. A lot has changed since then, but perhaps EG is still an awkward contender for NAVI. Yes, most likely, this will not prevent the CIS team from closing EG with a score of 2: 0 without any problems, but I admit that it is in this fight that a serious sensation can happen. Although Parimatch analysts do not believe in this and consider NAVI to be the undoubted favorite.

NAVI (1.18) vs EG (4.50)

FaZe is probably NAVI’s most dangerous opponent in the EPL S14 group stage. The European team was in a fever all season: a bad experience with Kjaerbye, the departure of coldzera, the unexpected return of Olofmeister, the adaptation of Twistzz, problems with the sniper’s position. But in the end, at the first LAN tournament in a long time, the team seemed to be reborn. FaZe Clan knocked out Gambit from the championship and entered the top 3 – few could expect this from the team. But the roster karrigan could no longer resist NAVI, having lost two cards with the same score of 7:16.

However, success at IEM Cologne could restore the team’s self-confidence, which must have been shaken during the season against the backdrop of unsatisfactory results. Twistzz is finally back to being the tasher he was at the best times in Team Liquid, and rain and olofmeister seemed to remember their youth. The only unanswered question was broky and his potential as the team’s main sniper. Either way, FaZe Clan has proven to be reckoned with. Therefore, if someone can take points from NAVI, it will be the karrigan roster. Of all the rivals of the CIS team, it was FaZe Clan that received the lowest coefficient for victory in the match against NAVI from analysts from Parimatch.

NAVI (1.35) vs FaZe (3.05)

The odds are taken from the site of the Parimatch betting company and are relevant at the time of publication of the material.