Image: Stephanie Lindgren via PGL
NAVI now head to the second half of the season with two championships under their belt.
Natus Vincere (NAVI) have been crowned as champions of the Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) tournament at the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2024 after they pulled off the 2-1 reverse sweep over 
G2 Esports in the best-of-three grand finals on Monday (July 22).
With their victory, NAVI claimed the grand prize of $400,000 out of the tournament's $1 million prize pool as well as their second title this year following their victory at the PGL Major Copenhagen 2024 back in March. Meanwhile, G2 settle for second place and $175,000 in consolation, not a bad result considering their recent roster overhaul that saw Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski replace Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen as in-game leader.
NAVI and G2 both had strong starts to their EWC campaigns by cruising through the Opening Stage and into the Playoffs, with NAVI going through 
FURIA Esports while G2 trounced 
The MongolZ.
In the Playoff quarterfinals, G2 pulled off the biggest upset of the tournament by knocking out tournament favourites 
Team Spirit in a hard-fought 2-1 victory. They then swept 
Virtus.pro, 2-0, in the semifinals to take the first spot in the grand finals. Meanwhile, NAVI bagged the second grand finals spot by sweeping through 
FaZe Clan, 2-0, in the quarterfinals and overcoming 
MOUZ in a 2-1 reverse sweep in the semis.
G2 entered the grand finals with all guns blazing and winning the first six rounds of game one at Ancient as the T side. While NAVI were able to answer by winning four of the next five rounds, G2 still ended the first half doubling up their opponents with an 8-4 score.
NAVI then stormed their way back into contention by six of the first seven rounds of the second half to go up 10-9. G2 struck back by winning three of the next four rounds to get within map point, 12-11, only for NAVI to win round 24 to force overtime. G2 stepped things up in the extra rounds, winning two out of three rounds in the two ensuing overtime period to claim the 16-14 victory in Ancient.
Nikola “NiKo” Kovač and Mario “malbsMd” Samayoa led the way for G2 in game one, notching 25 kills apiece and combining for 11 assists against 19 deaths each.
Despite their overtime loss in game one, NAVI were quick to bounce back in the second map at Nuke, where a second half masterclass by them forced the series to a deciding third game.
The first half of Nuke saw both teams trading runs, starting with NAVI claiming the first four rounds as the T side. Both teams then won two rounds apiece through round 8 before G2 racked off four-straight to end the half with a 6-6 deadlock. NAVI then locked after the side switch, clean sweeping the second half with a masterful showing on the CT side to close out Nuke up 13-6.
Valerij “b1t” Vakhovskiy spearheaded NAVI's win at Nuke with 17 kills and four assists on a map-best eight deaths. Justinas “jL” Lekavičius also pitched in with 15 kills and six assists on 12 deaths.
NAVI smelled blood in the water in game three at Inferno, dominating the first half as the T side to lead 9-3, including a seven-round streak from rounds 3 to 9. The second half started with NAVI still rolling, winning the first two rounds to go up 11-3 before G2 could answer with two-straight rounds through to round 16. Despite G2's best efforts to mount a comeback, NAVI could not be denied as they closed out the 2-1 series victory with a 13-6 blowout in Inferno.
B1t once again led the way for NAVI in the closeout map, racking up 19 kills and six assists on nine deaths. Mihai “iM” Ivan did his fair share of fragging too with 16 kills and four assists on nine deaths.
