Natus Vincere’s run at StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2026 ended on 18 September 2026. MOUZ won a tense lower bracket round 1 series 2-1 in a best-of-three match played on LAN.
The result matters for both teams. MOUZ now advance to the lower bracket semifinal. Meanwhile, Natus Vincere’s elimination locks in their final placement and prize money for the event.
Three Maps Decide the Series
Cache opened the series as Natus Vincere’s map pick. Natus Vincere took the first half 9-3 as the CT side. However, MOUZ fought back hard in the second half, winning it 10-1 to close out the map 13-10 in their favor.
Inferno was MOUZ’s pick, and they carried that advantage into the map. MOUZ won the first half 8-4. In addition, they held on through the second half, winning it 6-5 to secure the map 13-10.
Mirage was left over after the veto process, making it the decider. MOUZ dominated from the start, winning the first half 10-2. They then closed out the second half 6-3, finishing the map 13-8 and sealing the 2-1 series win.
w0nderful Named Match MVP
Despite the loss, Natus Vincere’s Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov posted the highest rating of the match at 1.41. He finished with a 58-44 kill-death record, an ADR of 86.4, a KAST of 68.7%, and a positive swing of +5.36%.
On the winning side, Dorian “xertioN” Berman led MOUZ with a 1.13 rating, going 49-49 with an ADR of 79.9. Oldřich “PR” Nový followed with a 1.09 rating, and Lotan “Spinx” Giladi added a 1.08 rating. Adrian “xelex” Vincze closed out MOUZ’s positive performers at 1.05, while Ádám “torzsi” Torzsás finished with a 0.82 rating, the only MOUZ player below a 1.00 rating.
For Natus Vincere, Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy backed up w0nderful with a 1.09 rating. Drin “makazze” Shaqiri finished at 0.94, Mihai “iM” Ivan at 0.89, and Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen closed the lineup with a 0.79 rating.
w0nderful nearly turned a lost round into a miracle pic.twitter.com/8JU7bquDao
— StarLadder CS2 (@StarLadder_CS) September 18, 2026
VRS Points Shift for Both Sides
The win also affected both teams’ standing in the Valve Ranking System. MOUZ entered the match with 1858 points at rank #3. The victory added 6 points, bringing their total to 1864 points, and they remained in the #3 spot.
Natus Vincere entered with 1493 points at rank #15. The loss cost them 4 points, dropping their total to 1489 points. As a result, they fell one place, down to rank #16.
What Comes Next
MOUZ now move on to the lower bracket semifinal of StarSeries Fall 2026, where they will face the loser of the match between Vitality and FURIA. This puts MOUZ one win away from a spot in the lower bracket final.
For Natus Vincere, the tournament is over. They finish in 7th-8th place, earning $5,000 in prize money, plus an additional $5,000 as a club share. Therefore, while the elimination ends their event early, it still secures a payout for the roster heading into their next competition.
