Natus Vincere have officially locked in a top eight at the StarLadder Budapest Major 2025 after taking down regional rivals B8 in a 2-0 series. The win secures Natus Vincere’s place in the tournament’s playoff stage, marking another strong step in the team’s ongoing rebuild and momentum surge.
The series delivered a mix of dominance, clutch moments, and emerging individual stars – particularly on NAVI’s side – as they continued to show that they were more than capable of a deep Major run.
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Natus Vincere vs. B8 Match Recap
Ancient: makazze Steals the Spotlight
The opener on Ancient showcased NAVI’s newest addition, Drin “makazze” Shaqiri, who delivered his strongest Major performance to date. A blistering 1.72 rating combined with an explosive four-kill pistol round on the CT side set the tone early.
NAVI powered ahead to an 8-2 lead, suffocating B8’s attempts to gain map control. Although B8 managed to take the final two rounds of the half, NAVI immediately shut the door in the second pistol. Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen delivered a momentum-crushing triple kill in the post-plant, teeing up a clean 5–0 finish to close the map comfortably.
Ancient ended with NAVI looking structurally sharp and mechanically superior – a promising sign given how recently the map reentered their pool.
Train: iM and Aleksib Carry Natus Vincere Through a Tense Finish
Train told a very different story – one where B8 fought fiercely and pushed NAVI to their limits.
Natus Vincere exploded onto the map with Mihai “iM” Ivan dropping a quad kill in the opening pistol and maintaining pressure throughout the half. Momentum seemed firmly in NAVI’s favor after big plays from Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy and a clutch 1vs2 from Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov.
But B8 refused to crumble. A huge 1v3 from Alexey “alex666” Yarmoshchuk fueled a comeback that tied the first half 6-6 and later brought the scoreline to 8-8.
Natus Vincere stabilized thanks to another quad kill from iM and key late-round coordination spearheaded by Aleksib. They reached 12-9 before B8 once again rallied – forcing overtime with a critical final-round clutch.
In the extra rounds, Natus Vincere finally closed the map 16-14, with Aleksib’s A-site entries sealing the series and the team’s place in the playoffs.
What’s Next for Natus Vincere?
Natus Vincere will now prepare for their quarterfinal matchup, where they will face one of the remaining top contenders in a single-elimination, best-of-three series. Given their current form – and the emergence of new strengths within the squad – Natus Vincere enter the playoffs as a dangerous, unpredictable opponent capable of upsetting anyone.
The Budapest crowd will soon find out whether this roster has what it takes to turn a strong group-stage finish into a championship run.
