Natus Vincere are through to the grand final at EPICENTER 2018 following their 2-0 victory against AVANGAR in the semis (16-11 on Dust2 and 16-12 Train).

The best-of-three semi-final kicked off on Dust2 where Danylo "⁠Zeus⁠" Teslenko got a quad kill in the pistol round to give his CT-sided team the early lead. Following three more round victories by Natus Vincere, Bektiyar "⁠fitch⁠" Bahytov picked up a double kill in a 2vs2 to give AVANGAR their first (4-1).

AVANGAR clawed their way back from their slow start and took the lead in the 11th round (6-5). However, Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev & company managed to pick up the last four rounds of the half at the end of which they led 9-6.

Na`Vi are the first grand finalists

Timur "⁠buster⁠" Tulepov opened the second half with a quad kill to win the pistol round but Natus Vincere didn't let AVANGAR tie the game at 9-9 as s1mple and Ioann "⁠Edward⁠" Sukhariev clutched a 2vs4 in the 18th round.

AVANGAR had another chance to tie up the game, this time in the 24th round, but Natus Vincere secured the round with four Deagle kills and went on to win the map 16-11.

AVANGAR started Train on the CT-side and picked up the pistol victory thanks to Aidyn "⁠KrizzeN⁠" Turlybekov's triple kill. Neither Natus Vincere, nor AVANGAR could go on a sustained run during the first ten rounds (5-5). Zeus & company won five of the last rounds in the first half to lead 9-6 at halftime

AVANGAR has gone out in 3-4th place

The Russian-Ukrainian team made it 10-6 with the second pistol victory. AVANGAR replied two rounds later with a full buy as buster and KrizzeN opened the round with their entry kills (11-7).

The Kazakhstani side followed it up with a 3vs5 victory thanks to Alexey "⁠Qikert⁠" Golubev's triple kill. AVANGAR then tied the game at 11-11 but Natus Vincere won the 23rd round with pistols to reclaim the lead. Natus Vincere earned four match points but couldn't convert the first one as Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali had an incredible 1vs3 clutch (15-12). Natus Vincere closed out the map 16-12 and won the series 2-0 to advance to the grand final at EPICENTER 2018.

EPICENTER 2018Best of 3 Natus VincereMatchpage 2 0 28th October 2018 AVANGAR 16Dust2 11 16Train 12

Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostylievs1mple	52 - 26	+26	96.7	1.52
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyevflamie	37 - 35	+2	76.6	1.09
Denis 'electroNic' SharipovelectroNic	34 - 35	-1	67.4	1.04
Ioann 'Edward' SukharievEdward	36 - 34	+2	71.7	1.03
Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoZeus	31 - 34	-3	63.3	0.93

AVANGAR	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Dzhami 'Jame' AliJame	39 - 31	+8	75.5	1.17
Timur 'buster' Tulepovbuster	35 - 40	-5	72.9	0.94
Alexey 'Qikert' GolubevQikert	32 - 35	-3	61.1	0.93
Aidyn 'KrizzeN' TurlybekovKrizzeN	30 - 42	-12	65.0	0.74
Bektiyar 'fitch' Bahytovfitch	28 - 42	-14	61.0	0.73

Dzhami 'Jame' Ali Age: 20 Team: AVANGAR Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 381 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.58 Aidyn 'KrizzeN' Turlybekov Age: 19 Team: AVANGAR Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 452 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.65 Ioann 'Edward' Sukhariev Age: 30 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 1257 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.67 AVANGAR #31 Bektiyar 'fitch' BahytovTimur 'buster' TulepovAidyn 'KrizzeN' TurlybekovAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' Ali Bektiyar 'fitch' Bahytov Age: 26 Team: AVANGAR Rating 1.0: 1.00 Maps played: 412 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.71 Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko Age: 31 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 0.93 Maps played: 1271 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.69 Timur 'buster' Tulepov Age: 18 Team: AVANGAR Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 510 KPR: 0.71 DPR: 0.63 Alexey 'Qikert' Golubev Age: 19 Team: AVANGAR Rating 1.0: 1.10 Maps played: 462 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.65 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 21 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.22 Maps played: 904 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.67 Natus Vincere #2 Ioann 'Edward' SukharievDanylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' Sharipov