Ukrainian team NaVi wins $225,000 in Counter-Strike tournament

by Daryna AntoniukNovember 29, 2021 6:21 am

kraine-based esports team Natus Vincere, or NaVi, defeated French team Vitality in the grand final of the Counter-Strike gaming tournament Blast Premier in Copenhagen on Nov. 28.

They earned $225,000 in prize money. Vitality won $85,000 for coming in second.

A total of eight teams competed in the tournament. The victory allows NaVi to compete in next month’s world final with a prize pool of $1 million. NaVi’s Oleksandr Kostylev was the star player of the Copenhagen game. Earlier this month Kostylev became the world’s best computer game player, according to Esports Awards, the prestigious gaming industry award.

Since 2009, NaVi earned $15 million in 556 tournaments – it is the fourth-best esports team in the world, according to Esports Awards.

Daryna Antoniuk

Tech reporter

Daryna Antoniuk is a tech reporter at the Kyiv Independent. She worked in the same role at the Kyiv Post and has focused on Ukrainian startups, investment and the fintech market. Antoniuk previously was a tech reporter for Forbes Ukraine. Her work has also been published at Sifted and The Record. She graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University in Kyiv with BA in journalism and communications.

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