Natus Vincere’s makazze delivers clutch 4K to close out Inferno at EWC26

Drin “makazze” Shaqiri picked the biggest stage of his young career to announce himself. The 19-year-old Natus Vincere rifler sealed his team’s 13-9 victory over 3DMAX on Inferno with a four-kill finish, the kind of highlight-reel moment that turns a prospect into a name people remember.

The match, played on August 12, 2026, was a Best-of-1 opener in the upper bracket of Group D at the Esports World Cup 2026 in France. NaVi controlled the server from the CT side, building an 8-4 half before grinding out five T-side rounds to close it.

A teenager making his case

makazze finished the map with 17 kills against 14 deaths, good for a 1.27 HLTV Rating 3.0. For context, HLTV’s rating system centers around 1.00 as average performance.

He wasn’t even the top performer on his own roster. Teammate iM led the server with a 1.52 rating.

makazze joined NaVi’s main CS2 roster on June 30, 2025, graduating from the organization’s junior squad. At 19, he’s competing alongside established names like w0nderful, b1t, and Aleksib, NaVi’s veteran in-game leader.

NaVi’s CT-side dominance told the story

The 8-4 CT half was the foundation of NaVi’s win. The T side was a grittier affair. NaVi managed a 5-5 split, which on Inferno is respectable but not dominant.

What EWC26 means for the CS2 calendar

The Esports World Cup 2026 runs from August 12 to August 23 and carries a total prize pool of $2 million. The tournament has positioned itself as one of the marquee events on the global esports calendar, drawing elite CS2 rosters to France for nearly two weeks of competition.

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