NaVi back on top – What we’ve learned from DreamHack Masters Spring 2021

The playoffs have come to an end, and so the DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 are finished, with one team finding their best form again.

There was one clear victor here that nobody really expected, save for the die-hard fans that persisted and cheered on through and through. Time for a dive into how the tournament progressed.

The power rankings held true

In the group stages nothing all too wild happened. The opening and lower bracket rounds showed that new and considerably lower ranked teams like Fiend and Extra Salt just could not compete with the top ten teams in the world. They were shot out quickly and sent home.

Spirit and mousesports faltered

Group A however showed a sign of things to come. As the upper semi-finals progressed Gambit and NAVI were lined up to face each other in the upper final. Of course as you know this matchup ended up being what the Grand Final was made of. But the first time NAVI took on Gambit they did not quite know how to handle them. In a best of three it was Gambit that reigned, reaffirming that they were, at least at the time, the number one in the world. NAVI had to settle for a quarter-final spot whereas Gambit was comfortable in the semi-final.

In the lower bracket it was quite the hectic battle, with Spirit showing promise but being defeated by Virtus.pro in the end. Mousesports on the other hand did not know how to tackle G2. The lower final was decided and saw G2 decimating Virtus.pro. Astralis their opponent had been found, and it was the diverse European line-up of G2 to face them in the quarter-final.

Astralis still struggles

Speaking of Astralis, they themselves were not up to par in the group stages. Sure they held out against Complexity, but Heroic just ended up being stronger in the upper final. It was a sign that Astralis is now searching and trying to find their way after the departure of device to NIP. It also has to be said though that Heroic right now seems to be the better Danish team, but the two Danish titans are locked in an everlasting battle. It could just as easily be Astralis at the number one spot again next month.

So Heroic had their semi-final spot secured with a decisive 2-0, 16-6 on both counts. The real showing was happening in the lower bracket. FURIA dominance, a triple 2-0 to send paiN, Complexity, and Vitality out of the tournament. This was pure bliss. Brazilian CS to the top and FURIA making fans proud all around. Not much of this was thanks to junior, the relatively new player on the team. He seems to still be struggling to find his way.

G2 rose up, but fell short

As the playoffs started, Astralis showed signs of struggling once again. The match against G2 was anything but smooth. G2 might not have won it straight up with a 2-0, but it was close. The only map Astralis managed to take was Nuke, their own map pick and one the Danes are known for. The result? 16-14. They were scraping by which their performance showed. Astralis felt chaotic and unorganised. None of their legendary plays showed up as is usually expected from this star line-up. A logical consequence that G2 secured the semi-final spot against Gambit.

NAVI on the other hand knew how to deal with the FURIA train. In a match of CIS versus Brazil, a nail-biter at that, NAVI simply needed to gather steam. FURIA had one hell of a tense first map, bringing Inferno to second overtime to actually grab the map, but it was far too close. This was FURIA giving NAVI a clear sign that they were weak and up for grabs. Confirmation of this came 2 maps later; NAVI destroyed FURIA with 16-6 twice in a row and won 2-1. A sign of things to come for NAVI as they established themselves.

The semi-finals were surprisingly less tense. An expected result from Gambit in the first as they annihilated G2 in two swift maps. This was Gambit on form as they always are, swiftly securing the grand-final. On the other side NAVI took Heroic by surprise: no overtimes but close results for each map. Heroic started strong but tailed off completely near the end as they lost the best of three.

Return to form

That left one final battle. Nobody saw this result coming, and I am happy to admit my mistakes: Neither did I. In the look-ahead I was confident of a Gambit victory, but NAVI had different plans. The best of five turned into a total NAVI show. Gambit started horribly on Overpass as NAVI pushed on. They were unorganised and made the most basic mistakes, not checking standard angles and seemingly not communicating.

Gambit was unorganised and NAVI used this against them. Result? Navi won 3-0. A completely unexpected but incredibly deserved score as they sent Gambit home and took the $100 000 prize.

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Image Credit: NAVI (Twitter)
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