Natus Vincere secures victory over Legacy, advances in IEM Cologne Major

Natus Vincere clawed back from an 0-1 deficit in the IEM Cologne Major 2026 pool stage, taking down Brazilian squad Legacy on the Ancient map with a 13-10 scoreline. The win moves NAVI to a 1-1 record in the Swiss-system format, keeping their major hopes firmly alive.

The IEM Cologne Major 2026, held in Cologne, Germany, carries a $1.25 million prize pool and stands as the first major Counter-Strike 2 tournament of the year.

How the maps played out

The best-of-three series featured a strategic veto phase that told its own story. Legacy opted to remove Anubis from the pool, while NAVI eliminated Overpass. From there, Legacy selected Inferno as their pick, and NAVI countered by choosing Ancient.

NAVI’s roster, featuring Aleksib, b1t, iM, and makazze, showed the kind of composure you’d expect from an organization that has been a fixture at the top of Counter-Strike for the better part of a decade. Legacy, fielding arT, dumau, latto, n1ssim, and saadzin, brought real fight. A 13-10 margin on Ancient is not a blowout.

What’s at stake in Cologne

The Swiss-system format used in the IEM Cologne Major pool stage is designed to be unforgiving. Teams play a series of best-of-three matches, and their record determines whether they advance, get eliminated, or keep fighting in the middle bracket. NAVI sitting at 1-1 means they’re one series win away from a path to advancement, but also one loss away from facing elimination pressure.

For Legacy, the loss stings but doesn’t end their run outright. The Brazilian organization earned its spot at the major through strong regional play, including a qualification run at IEM Atlanta 2026.

The crypto angle: fan tokens and esports

Natus Vincere operates a fan token, the NAVI token, built on the Chiliz blockchain. Fan tokens in esports function similarly to their counterparts in traditional sports: holders get voting rights on minor team decisions, access to exclusive content, and a sense of financial skin in the game.

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