SK to DH Las Vegas semis over Na`Vi

The series kicked off on Mirage, where Natus Vincere claimed the opening pistol round after executing an A split, with Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev getting three kills to his name. After losing both eco rounds, SK won the first gun round as Na`Vi got stomped on their way towards A, but the European side bounced back right after thanks to a 1v2 clutch by flamie, who stole the show after Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga had picked up four kills.

Na`Vi went on a great run and brought the scoreline to an 8-1 advantage, never giving SK the chance to get their economy stabilised. The Brazilians then tightened up their defence, twice stringing two rounds together to reduce the deficit to five rounds at the end of the half.

SK went into the second half with more determination, winning the first five rounds to equalise the score. Rounds then went back and forth as neither side could stamp their authority on the game, with Denis "⁠seized⁠" Kostin powering Na`Vi to win a crucial eco round with three kills. However, SK punished them right after with a B push on a force buy, and went on to hit map point. With no money in Na`Vi's bank, it looked like the map was about to come to an end, but the CIS side kept their cool and forced overtime with nothing but pistols.

fer led the charge on Mirage 

The first two overtimes could not determine a winner as the teams continuously clawed their way back into the game even when the odds were stacked against them. But the third overtime proved decisive as SK won two rounds in both halves to secure a 25-22 win.

Next up was Train, where Na`Vi won the pistol round as Terrorist with a B push. They were not able to build on that, however, as they were caught off-guard by SK's force buy, with Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David getting three stunning Desert Eagle headshots.

That win sparked a great run from the Brazilians, who would win eight of the following nine rounds to put Na`Vi in danger of getting blown out. After calling a timeout in an attempt to halt SK's momentum, Na`Vi came close to getting a round on the board, but they wasted a 3v2 afterplant as Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo picked up two fast kills, showing the level of play that SK had missed on Mirage.

With plenty of money in the bank and the momentum swinging their way, SK won the remaining rounds to take a commanding 13-2 lead, powered by their newest player, João "⁠felps⁠" Vasconcellos, who finished the half with 19 kills.

Losing Mirage was a hard blow for Na`Vi, who looked way off the pace on Train 

Na`Vi then found a lifeline as they won the CT pistol thanks to three headshots from Ioann "⁠Edward⁠" Sukhariev. That win would see Na`Vi hit five rounds, but once SK got money in the bank they secured two quick rounds to reach match point. Na`Vi still got two more rounds on the board, but it was too little, too late, as a quad kill from FalleN during a B push sealed the deal for the Brazilians.

Key Moment: With Na`Vi on map point, Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga walks into the B site on Mirage and gets three opening frags to force a third overtime, in which SK would get the win. 

PotM: The award goes to Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga, who was SK's top fragger on both maps and also had a significant contribution in many crucial rounds throughout the series.

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