Natus Vincere have been crowned the StarSeries i-League Season 5 champions following a quick 2-0 victory over NRG in the final.

The StarSeries grand final was the only playoff match in Kiev that did not go to all three maps. That, combined with the fact that Na`Vi never allowed NRG to even hit double-digits, helps to explain how one-sided this match really was. It did not even take a monstrous performance from Aleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev (who still topped the scoreboard with a convincing 1.47 rating) for the Ukrainians to run out 2-0 victors, picking up a much-needed title after losing their previous two finals.

Overpass, the first map of the title decider, began with a clean B execution from Natus Vincere, with Egor "⁠flamie⁠" Vasilyev getting three kills to his name. That was the start of a dominant run from the Ukrainian side, who bagged seven rounds straight to put NRG on the back foot.

The North American team then finally responded, securing two rounds in a row, but a subsequent round loss severely damaged their fragile economy. Surprisingly, they were able to hit back immediately with nothing but pistols, with Jacob "⁠FugLy⁠" Medina and Damian "⁠daps⁠" Steele sharing the frags, and put together a significant run of rounds to bring the deficit to 7-8.

s1mple, who had been merely a spectator in the first half, then went huge and pulled off a quad-kill in the pistol round to kick Natus Vincere further into the lead. After taking both anti-ecos convincingly, Na`Vi refused to take their foot off the gas and lost just one round before running away with the game.

Na`Vi made light work of NRG in the final

Denis "⁠electronic⁠" Sharipov opened things up on Mirage with a sensational 1v3 clutch that included a last-second kill to prevent a defuse. After losing both eco rounds, NRG got on the board in the first full gun round, courtesy of a triple-kill from Tsvetelin "⁠CeRq⁠" Dimitrov.

The North Americans kept their defence very tight and eventually took the lead. But the joy would not last as Natus Vincere ran all over the defence until the end of the half, with NRG's round wins coming on the back of 1v2 clutches from Ethan "⁠Ethan⁠" Arnold and daps.

Up 9-6, Na`Vi won six rounds without response to hit championship point. A CeRq ace earned NRG their first round of the half, but it merely delayed the inevitable as the Ukrainian side rallied back immediately on a very weak buy to put the match to bed.

StarSeries i-League Season 5 final standings: