Esport MeVitality sweep NAVI to book PGL Masters Bucharest playoff spot
Stand-in jL inflicted a 2-0 defeat on his former club NAVI, sending Vitality through to the Bucharest playoffs while NAVI face a Spirit elimination match for their Singapore Major hopes.
Vitality beat Natus Vincere 2-0 at PGL Masters Bucharest to secure their place in the playoffs, according to Esports.net News.
The win marked jL's first match against NAVI since he left the organisation in July, and it ended in a lopsided result for his new side.
Vitality routed NAVI on Inferno, a map NAVI themselves had picked, before completing the sweep on Dust2 after trailing 3-9. They closed that map with ten straight rounds.
jL finished the series 13-5 with a 1.58 rating. Teammate mezii was even more dominant, going 19-9 for a 1.86 rating.
NAVI's Mihai 'iM' Ivan struggled badly on Inferno, dying in every round of the first half without recording a kill and finishing the map on 5.1 ADR.
Vitality signed jL in August as cover for mezii and apEX while both took paternity leave, naming him as their substitute for BLAST Open Porto and this event. In Bucharest he has been standing in for apEX.
Because Vitality are required to play at least five games at the tournament, the five-game rule makes jL the player registered on their invited Major roster, HLTV reported. That is expected to send the Singapore Major stickers to jL rather than apEX.
Vitality's only defeat in Bucharest came against FUT, who won 2-1 after coming back from 4-8 down on the deciding map. FUT were the first team to reach the playoffs.
NAVI's run unravelled after an opening 2-0 start, with losses to BetBoom and now Vitality dropping them to 2-2 in the group. They now face Spirit in an elimination match.
Spirit were pushed into that fixture by a 2-1 loss to MOUZ. MOUZ lost their own Nuke pick 2-13 before taking Dust2 13-8 and Mirage 16-14.
MOUZ's donk produced 12 multi-kills on Mirage, finishing with a 35-20 kill-death difference, 123.6 ADR and a 1.93 rating, as Spirit lost the map despite leading 12-10. MOUZ have now beaten Spirit four times in five meetings since the summer break.
Aurora took the day's third playoff spot with a win over Liquid. Liquid led 10-8 on the Cache decider before Aurora closed it out 13-10, with Jimpphat posting a server-high 1.28 rating.
It is Aurora's fourth consecutive playoff qualification, a run that includes a runner-up finish at StarLadder StarSeries Fall and two third-place results.
G2 and 9z are already eliminated after finishing their groups 0-3. G2 lost to NAVI, Aurora and DENDELE, the last of those a 2-1 defeat on 26 October.
The Bucharest event carries a $1.25 million prize pool, with the champion taking $450,000 and sides finishing fifth to eighth each receiving $50,000. Play continues until 31 October.
It is the last top-level LAN before the Valve Regional Standings are locked on 2 November, the date that determines PGL Major Singapore invites and which stage each qualifying team starts from. Admin deadlines for the Major follow on 6 and 9 November, with the tournament itself running from 24 November to 13 December.