Richard Lewis says NAVI are \u201chot favorites\u201d for BLAST Premier CSGO World Final ELEAGUEIn the most recent episode of \u2018Pop Flash\u2019, hosts Richard Lewis and Duncan \u2018Thorin\u2019 Shields explained how the only team currently capable of taking down NAVI is NAVI themselves. It\u2019s been a red-letter year for Natus Vincere. In the latest episode of \u2018Pop Flash\u2019, the Dexerto-produced show covering all things Counter-strike, Richard Lewis, Thorin and co-host Auguste \u2018Semmler\u2019 Massonnat previewed the 2021 BLAST Premier World Final. The trio quickly got round to the discussion of the tournament favorites \u2013 and all three unanimously agreed that NAVI are the team to beat. The event, which will take place from December 14-19, will be NAVI\u2019s final chance to cap off a year of incredible success. The roster has gone from strength to strength throughout 2021, becoming the first team in CS:GO history to win a Major without dropping a map at PGL Stockholm and, more recently, smashing Astralis\u2019 record for most prize money won in a calendar year. No breaks for NAVI Lewis explained that, in his opinion, NAVI have reached a point where their only real opponent is their own mentality and work ethic. \u201cThe only way I can see this lineup not dominating all of 2022\u201d, he explained, \u201cis if they do something stupid like take a month-long break.\u201d The nature of breaks in Counter-Strike has been a hotly-discussed issue throughout its lengthy history. The international calendar for Counter-Strike is undoubtedly one of the busiest in esports. It offers very little time for players to take any kind of extended break. Lewis explained that taking breaks can often be at a detriment to a roster\u2019s performance, citing Team Liquid\u2019s 2019 Intel Grand Slam victory as the result of consistent tournament attendance. \u201cOnce you take that long break, it can really seriously affect you- you might never get back to that equilibrium that you\u2019re in when you\u2019re at your best.\u201d NAVI took a break after the BLAST Fall Final, with coach Andrey \u2018B1ad3\u2019 Gorodenskiy highlighting the need for players to reset for \u201c7 to 10 days\u201d because of the system in place. But does that mean that there will be some rust to sand off? \u201cNAVI are hot favorites to win this,\u201d Richard Lewis said. \u201cPersonally, if I were BLAST, I\u2019d save money and cut them the cheque. \u201cBut maybe a two-week break is enough to disrupt their flow. I don\u2019t think it will be, but anything is possible.\u201d NAVI\u2019s only real opponents are themselves The \u2018Pop Flash\u2019 trio were quick to predict a finals spot for NAVI, and Thorin went on to explain that these matches are the only time the team look like they can lose- but not for the reasons you might expect. \u201cThe only matches that actually look close are when NAVI is in the final, and they\u2019re essentially playing themselves,\u201d argued Thorin. \u201cIn these finals, the nerves and the pressure start to creep in for NAVI. They\u2019ve been so incredibly dominant in 2021 that this nervousness is the closest we\u2019ve seen to a real opponent for the team.\u201d DJ Esports\u2019 BLAST World Final first-round odds:: NAVI 1.089 to Liquid 6.589 – Gambit 1.457 to Heroic 2.603 – G2 1.456 to NIP 2.609 – Vitality 1.522 to Astralis 2.421 – NAVI will begin their BLAST Premier World Final campaign against Team Liquid, a \u201cdead team\u201d that will undergo multiple roster changes at the end of the year. Be sure to catch up on all the results of the BLAST event with our official hub. Odds correct at the time of writing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Richard Lewis says NAVI are \u201chot favorites\u201d for BLAST Premier CSGO World Final ELEAGUEIn the most recent episode of \u2018Pop Flash\u2019, hosts Richard Lewis and Duncan \u2018Thorin\u2019 Shields explained how the only team currently capable of taking down NAVI is NAVI themselves. It\u2019s been a red-letter year for Natus Vincere. In the latest episode of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38851\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dejan.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}