{"id":398046,"date":"2026-06-13T13:06:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T13:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/?p=398046"},"modified":"2026-06-13T13:06:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T13:06:13","slug":"navi-comeback-the-mongolz-iem-cologne-major-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/community.skin.club\/en\/news\/navi-comeback-the-mongolz-iem-cologne-major-2026","title":{"rendered":"NAVI Comeback Against The MongolZ to Move Into 2-1 Pool at IEM Cologne Major 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Natus Vincere recovered from an opening map defeat to beat The MongolZ 2-1 in the third round of Stage 3 at IEM Cologne Major 2026. After losing their opponents\u2019 pick of Nuke, the Ukrainian organization fought back on Ancient and closed the series in convincing fashion on Mirage, improving to a 2-1 record and moving one step closer to the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Road through Stage 3<\/h3>\n
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Photo Copyright by PGL Bucharest 2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NAVI (2-1)<\/p>\n

NAVI began Stage 3 with a loss to Spirit before bouncing back with a 2-0 victory over Legacy. Their win against The MongolZ now puts them into the 2-1 bracket, where one more victory will secure a playoff spot.<\/p>\n

The MongolZ (1-2)<\/p>\n

The Mongolian squad started the stage with a defeat against BetBoom but responded by eliminating B8 with a 2-0 victory. However, the loss to NAVI dropped them to the dangerous 1-2 pool, leaving no room for error.<\/p>\n\n

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read more<\/p>\n

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\n Peacemaker Predicts Stage 3 of IEM Cologne Major 2026<\/a>\n \n
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Jun 13<\/div>\n News<\/a> <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The MongolZ strike first, but NAVI turn the series around<\/h3>\n
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Player statistics for the match \/\/ taken from HLTV<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The MongolZ opened the series strongly on Nuke, their own map pick. The Asian squad controlled most of the action and secured a comfortable 13-8 victory, putting NAVI under immediate pressure.<\/p>\n

Ancient, selected by NAVI, turned into one of the most dramatic maps of the stage. The Ukrainian side managed to force overtime after trailing during regulation and eventually edged out a hard-fought 16-13 victory to level the series.<\/p>\n

With momentum fully on their side, Aleksi \u201cAleksib\u201d Virolainen and company dominated Mirage. NAVI took control from the opening rounds and closed the decider 13-6 to complete the reverse sweep.<\/p>\n

b1t leads the way<\/h3>\n
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Photo Copyright by BLAST<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Valeriy \u201cb1t\u201d Vakhovskiy was the standout performer of the series. The Ukrainian star finished with 61 kills, 89.0 ADR and a 1.31 rating. Drin \u201cmakazze\u201d Shaqiri also impressed with a 1.23 rating, while Ihor \u201cw0nderful\u201d Zhdanov contributed a 1.18 rating. For The MongolZ, Sodbayar \u201cTechno\u201d Munkhbold led the team with a 1.13 rating, but it wasn\u2019t enough to prevent the reverse sweep.<\/p>\n

VRS impact<\/h3>\n

The victory brought NAVI 15 VRS points and lifted them from fourth to third place in the rankings. The MongolZ lost seven points and dropped from eighth to tenth.<\/p>\n