PBrauner on Natus Vincere: “It’s clear that they’re missing a player who can call plays.”

Pancho Justo: Nemesis brought a typical European style: they farm for a long time, about 20 minutes, and only then start fighting. Estar Backs, on the other hand, have nothing to offer in response—the team has barely trained together and frankly doesn’t understand how to play. So they just adapt to whatever their opponent dictates. And someone said it very accurately—I think it was Tio Inka—that it’s as if everyone is playing for themselves. Nemesis, on the other hand, even when they want a fight, very rarely initiate it themselves.

PBrauner: I feel really bad for Natus Vincere: first they didn’t qualify via EPT points because of PlayTime, and now they won’t make it to the Esports World Cup 2026 at all because of LGD, and then there’s this Pipsqueak +4... I watched the final; it was pretty fun—I think even better than the current final in South America, honestly.

I thought replacing Zayac with daze would benefit NAVI, but in reality, it only made the roster worse. It’s clear they’re missing a player who can call the plays. And so, unfortunately, these five guys are missing out on the Esports World Cup and, most likely, TI.

Pancho Justo: Overall, I’m not going to downplay the achievement and say, “Man, it was easy for them.” It’s truly commendable to make it through the European qualifiers. But it’s far from the toughest qualifier out there. I think LGD Gaming is still a bit better, at least compared to Pipsqueak+4.