Falcons and NAVI set to clash for IEM Beijing playoff spot
Falcons and Natus Vincere have won their IEM Beijing lower-bracket semi-final matches 2-0 against HEROIC and B8 , respectively, and will go up against each other for a spot in the playoffs when they meet in the final later on in the day.
HLTV4 Nov 2026 · 2 min read
Date Matches IEM Beijing 2026 04/11/2026 Natus Vincere 10:30 Falcons Match Falcons were the first to punch their ticket after keeping HEROIC below double digits on either of the two maps played, Ancient (13-8) and Dust2 (13-6).
Maksim "kyousuke" Lukin was not overthinking this series and ended it as by far the highest-rated player of the match with a 1.90 rating, +7.08% swing, and 114.7 ADR. His Dust2, a 2.17-rated affair, was his third-highest at a big LAN.
Aleksi "Aleksib" Virolainen and his teammates were well on the road to winning the match on Dust2 as they turned a 6-6 half into a 12-7 lead early on the T side, but a final push by the Ukrainian squad took the map the distance.
In the end, Natus Vincere closed out the map in the final round of regulation, 13-11, to win the series and clinch their spot in the final lower-bracket group stage decider.
In a rematch of their series from day one, where Natus Vincere won 2-0, Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov and company were in supreme form as they crushed Falcons on Inferno and ran away with a 12-0 lead on the decider of Mirage.
w0nderful ended the series with a 1.58 rating, and Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovskiy on 1.78, as they simply refused to miss another playoffs. "I'm feeling amazing, I'm glad we qualified to playoffs," b1t said post-game.
But they were rarely anywhere near their average level, let alone their best, as Natus Vincere made Inferno and Mirage into a walk in the park. As good as NAVI were, Falcons didn't help themselves.
In quick succession as Mirage went awry, they lost a 5v3 , 5v2 , and even let kyousuke get knifed by Drin "makazze" Shaqiri .
The group-stage exit is a huge blow to Falcons ahead of their defense of their Major title in Singapore, in front of what was functionally a home crowd.
That opens the door for a resurgent Natus Vincere , who are drawn with two teams that recently made roster changes in the form of PARIVISION and The MongolZ .
BETBOOM are the final team in playoffs, and will look to deny a MOUZ - FURIA semi-final by continuing their rapid rise up the rankings.
Opinion
Fictional bylines. Each take uses a line above and adds no facts.
Falcons Esports still has to answer for this: "Date Matches IEM Beijing 2026 04/11/2026 Natus Vincere 10:30 Falcons Match Falcons were the first to punch their ticket after keeping HEROIC below double digits on either of the…" That is the soft spot on the card. Nothing else in these lines closes it.
Mara Voss · pessimist
Natus Vincere can stand on this line: "Date Matches IEM Beijing 2026 04/11/2026 Natus Vincere 10:30 Falcons Match Falcons were the first to punch their ticket after keeping HEROIC below double digits on either of the…" It is already on the card, so the case does not need a streak or a roster rumor.
Leo Hart · optimist
TournamentsMOUZFalcons EsportsNatus VincereFURIAThe Mongolzkyousukeb1tAleksibw0nderfulmakazze
Earlier on CS2Feed
- 3 NovFACEIT posted statistics on which players in top-ten VRS-ranked teams have been reported the most in its matchmaking service. As no surprise, Danil "donk" Kryshkovets is in the top spot, with 1,662 reports against the Russian rifler.
- 3 NovFURIA secured a place in the IEM Beijing playoffs after recovering from a map down to beat Natus Vincere with 2-1, with a comeback from 3-9 on Nuke.
- 3 NovAfter suffering a reverse sweep at the hands of #3-ranked FURIA, FaZe found themselves facing Cologne Major champions Falcons, as well as the simultaneous prospect of elimination from IEM Beijing.
