Natus Vincere’s Counter-Strike captain, Aleksib, bid farewell to CS:GO on a sour note as his team suffered a crushing 0-15 losing streak in best-of-five grand finals. The latest blow came in the form of a 3-0 defeat to MOUZ at the ESL Pro League season 18 finals on October 1st.
This unfortunate streak began in 2019 when Aleksib was leading ENCE’s all-Finnish lineup. Despite having the opportunity to end it on a positive note before transitioning to CS2, NAVI proved to be no match for MOUZ in the grand finals, failing to win a single map.
Prior to the NAVI-MOUZ showdown, which marked the final tier-one grand finals of CS:GO esports, Aleksib had suffered 3-0 defeats twice against FaZe while playing for G2 and OG, once against Gambit, and once against Team Liquid.
Here is a breakdown of Aleksib’s painful best-of-five grand finals history since 2019:
| Team | Score | Opponent | Tournament |
|——|——-|———-|————|
| NAVI | 0-3 | MOUZ | EPL S18 |
| G2 | 0-3 | FaZe | IEM Katowice 2022 |
| OG | 0-3 | Gambit | IEM Summer 2021 |
| OG | 0-3 | FaZe | IEM New York 2020 |
| ENCE | 0-3 | Liquid | IEM Chicago 2019 |
While some fans have criticized Aleksib for his performance as an in-game leader, it is important to remember that Counter-Strike is a team game and he cannot control every action of his teammates during matches. Additionally, some of these defeats came against clearly superior teams such as Liquid’s Intel Grand Slam squad, FaZe Clan at IEM New York 2020, and Gambit at IEM Summer 2021.
Although Aleksib’s record in best-of-five grand finals is disheartening, he now has the opportunity to start anew in CS2 esports as he is expected to continue leading NAVI for the foreseeable future, especially if the organization maintains its commitment to an international team.
The first major CS2 tournament, IEM Sydney, will take place from October 16th to 22nd, and NAVI is among the 16 teams participating. This presents a chance for Aleksib to rewrite his story and make a fresh start in the competitive CS2 scene.
Source: DOTESPORTS
