B1ad3: NAVI beat Vitality to reach IEM Atlanta semis

Natus Vincere defeated Team Vitality 2–1 in the IEM Atlanta quarterfinals on May 15, 2026, losing Dust2 before winning Anubis and Inferno to advance to the semifinals.

NAVI coach Andrey ‘B1ad3’ Gorodenskiy called the victory “an accomplishment we needed for progress.” He added that the team had repeatedly made the same errors against Vitality and wanted to avoid hesitation when closing matches.

The win ended a stretch in which NAVI had not taken a map off Vitality since IEM Cologne 2024, despite meeting them in one best-of-three and two best-of-five series in 2026.

Gorodenskiy pointed to differences in preparation. According to him, Vitality had not practiced regularly after winning Rio and did not complete full preparation before Atlanta. NAVI selected Inferno in part because Vitality had not used that map since Rio.

On the semifinal opponent, Gorodenskiy described BetBoom as a strong team that has practiced consistently and gained flexibility from varied match play. He noted the BetBoom core has played together for a long time and that Anubis is among their stronger maps.

NAVI plan a bootcamp ahead of the IEM Cologne Major and intend to arrive at the Major venue three days early to adapt to equipment and practice conditions. The organization schedules preparations several weeks in advance.

NAVI will face BetBoom in the Atlanta semifinals. Gorodenskiy said the team is focused on converting opportunities into match wins and maintaining confidence when closing rounds.