NAVI are the champions of the Esports World Cup 2024 in CS2 

Natus Vincere proved stronger than G2 Esports in the final of the Esports World Cup 2024 in CS2. The match ended with a score of 2:1 — 14:16 on Ancient, 13:6 on Nuke, and 13:6 on Inferno.

For first place, the Aleksib-led team earned $400,000 and 1,000 points in the overall standings of the Esports World Cup 2024. G2 Esports received $175,000 and 600 points for second place in the EWC 2024 standings.

NiKo Kovač was named the most valuable player of the Esports World Cup 2024 in CS2 by the tournament organizers. This information was announced during the official broadcast and later appeared on the championship's page on X.

NiKo received the MVP title despite his team losing in the tournament final. In the decisive series, G2 fell to Natus Vincere with a score of 1:2. Kovač finished the championship with an individual rating of 1.35.

The MVP prize sponsor was PlayStation, and NiKo earned an additional $50,000 as a reward.

Natus Vincere's Counter-Strike 2 player, Valeriy "b1t" Vakhovsky, was named the most valuable player by the HLTV.org portal for the first time.

b1t's Config and Settings in CS2

The Esports World Cup 2024 in CS2 took place from July 17 to 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The teams competed for a prize pool of one million dollars.

NAVI had a 0% win rate on the third map.

Before the start of the third map of the EWC final in Riyadh, there was intrigue: what would the map be? NAVI didn't veto Inferno, which they last played on March 31 in the Major final against Faze? It sounds crazy.

But sometimes, the line between madness and genius is thin.

Let's examine the situation under a microscope.

NAVI CS2 had to choose the deciding map between Inferno and Dust2.

Inferno is G2's best and most frequently played map. Before the match, their win rate was 92%, with 11 wins out of 12 attempts. Their only loss was to Vitality at the London Blast. That's the tournament where Taz stood in first, and then monesy finally flew in and landed straight behind the computer.

However, in Riyadh, G2 played Inferno only once – in the debut match against The Mongolz. The score was very close – 16:14. Perhaps this was one of the signals that made B1ad3 consider an unusual map choice.

It is important to remember that G2 changed two players, so 11 wins out of 12 maps do not sound as formidable as if the team had continued playing with the same lineup.

What about Dust2? Both teams are familiar with the map. In Riyadh, they played it once each: NAVI CS2 got a thrashing from Mouz (1:13), and G2 demolished Virtus.pro (13:4).

A disastrous Dust2 was another argument in favor of Inferno in the grand final.

When it came time for the third map, it was surprising. On the other hand, it was obvious: if a team isn't afraid to play Inferno in the final, a map they haven't touched in official matches for 3.5 months, it means they have been preparing it intensively. Meanwhile, G2 was expecting a different outcome and focused on other maps.

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