Falcons Defeat Natus Vincere 19-16 in Double OT on Anubis

Falcons defeated Natus Vincere 2-1 in group play at the IEM Cologne Major on June 14, sealing a 19-16 double-overtime win on Anubis to secure a place in the LANXESS Arena playoffs. The result completed Falcons’ 3-1 group record and advanced them to the tournament’s knockout stage.

The series opened on Dust2, where Falcons won 13-3. Nikola “NiKo” Kovač posted a quad kill in the opening pistol round and Falcons built a 9-3 lead before the side switch. Multikills from René “TeSeS” Madsen and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov helped Falcons finish the map with a strong T-side showing and a final 13-3 score.

Natus Vincere recovered on their map pick, Mirage, taking a 13-7 win. Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy delivered a triple kill in a pistol round, and NAVI held control through the mid-game to close the map 13-7 after a largely steady second half.

The decider on Anubis produced the closest action. Falcons won the opening pistol round, but NAVI led 7-5 at halftime. NAVI extended their advantage to 11-6 in the second half. Falcons then mounted a six-round streak to erase the deficit and force overtime. The first overtime session did not decide the map; Falcons prevailed in the second overtime to win Anubis 19-16 and the series 2-1.

Individual statistics reflected the tight contest. Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov led Falcons with 57 kills and a series-high 1.33 Rating3.0, recording multiple multikills across Dust2 and Anubis and a KAST of 83.1%. René “TeSeS” Madsen recorded 48 kills and a 1.29 rating, and NiKo finished with 52 kills and a 1.19 rating. Falcons’ in-game leader Finn “karrigan” Andersen ended 31-53 with a 0.66 rating. For Natus Vincere, Mihai “iM” IvaniM posted 57 kills and a 1.08 rating, Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy had 46 kills and a 1.04 rating, and Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov recorded 52 kills and a 0.98 rating.

Falcons reached the LANXESS Arena after earlier group results that included a 2-1 win over G2, a 0-2 loss to BetBoom and a 2-1 victory over Monte. They join Vitality and Aurora, who also advanced with 3-1 records; FURIA and Spirit advanced from the groups without dropping a series. Natus Vincere finished group play 2-2 and did not advance.

Reflecting on the win and his history at Cologne, karrigan said he was grateful for the opportunity to return to the LANXESS Arena and expressed pride in the team’s performance against NAVI. Falcons will move on to the LANXESS knockout stage, where they will face higher-stakes elimination matches as the IEM Cologne Major continues.