Natus Vincere defeated paiN 2:0 in Group A Lower Round 1, keeping their tournament run alive at BLAST Open Porto 2026. NAVI won Nuke 13:9 before recovering from a 2:10 halftime deficit on Mirage to close the second map 13:11.
The defeat eliminates paiN from the tournament, while NAVI advance to the lower bracket semifinal against G2.
Tournament context
Both collectives entered the series with no room for another defeat. NAVI dropped to the lower bracket after a 1:2 loss to M80 in their opening match, while paiN suffered a 0:2 defeat against FURIA.
The Bo3 was therefore the first elimination match for both sides in Porto, with the loser ending the tournament in 13th–16th place.
How the match unfolded — NAVI vs paiN
Series score: 2:0 in favor of NAVI
- Nuke (paiN pick) — 13:9
The opening half was completely even, with the two sides reaching the break at 6:6. NAVI took control after switching sides and won seven of the next ten rounds to close the paiN map pick 13:9.
Ihor “w0nderful” Zhdanov led NAVI on Nuke with 20–10, 86.2 ADR and a 1.50 Rating 3.0. Drin “makazze” Shaqiri followed with a 1.27 rating, while João “snow” Vinicius was the best performer for paiN at 1.29.
- Mirage (NAVI pick) — 13:11
Mirage looked set to send the series to Inferno after paiN dominated the opening half. The Brazilian collective built a 10:2 CT-side lead, putting NAVI only three rounds away from losing their own map pick.
The situation completely changed after the side switch. NAVI won 11 of the 12 rounds in the second half, allowing paiN only a single T-side round and completing the comeback 13:11.
makazze was the key player in the recovery, finishing Mirage with 18–15, 77.7 ADR and a 1.41 Rating 3.0.
Player of the Match — Drin “makazze” Shaqiri (NAVI)
- K–D: 34–31
- ADR: 87.7
- Rating 3.0: 1.28
makazze finished as the highest-rated NAVI player across the series and delivered his strongest performance during the Mirage comeback.
w0nderful followed with a 1.18 Rating 3.0 and 32–25 K–D, while Valeriy “b1t” Vakhovskiy finished at 1.02.
paiN had two players above a 1.00 rating despite the defeat. snow led the collective with 39–32 and a 1.21 rating, while Vinicius “vsm” Moreira recorded 1.12. Rafael “saffee” Costa struggled throughout the series and finished with a 0.63 Rating 3.0.
VRS results
- NAVI — +34 pt → 1,664 pt, #11 → #10
- paiN — -5 pt → 1,344 pt, remain #35
The victory moved NAVI one position higher in VRS, while paiN remained 35th despite losing five points.
What’s next?
NAVI will face G2 on August 30 in the Group A lower bracket semifinal. G2 dropped into the lower bracket after losing 0:2 to Spirit in their upper semifinal.
The winner will advance to the Group A lower bracket final and move one series away from securing a place in the BLAST Open Porto 2026 playoffs. The loser will be eliminated.
