Natus Vincere, GamerLegion eke into IEM Atlanta semifinals

Jul 21, 2019; Miami Beach, FL, USA; A general view of gaming controllers on display during the Call of Duty League Finals e-sports event at Miami Beach Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images Natus Vincere and GamerLegion pulled off come-from-behind wins on Friday in the quarterfinals of the Intel Extreme Masters Atlanta event. Natus Vincere overtook Team Vitality 2-1, advancing to a semifinal matchup with BetBoom Team. GamerLegion charged past paiN Gaming 2-1, earning a spot opposite Legacy in the semifinals. The $300,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive event began with 16 teams divided into two groups for the double-elimination opening round. The top six teams reached the single-elimination playoffs. All matches are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Sunday. The winning side will receive $125,000. On Friday, Team Vitality logged a 13-11 win on Dust II before Natus Vincere captured Anubis 13-11. On the decisive third map, Inferno, Natus Vincere rolled to a 13-3 victory. Ukraine's Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov totaled 59 kills and a plus-31 kill-death differential for Natus Vincere. France's Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut posted 39 kills and a plus-19 K-D differential for Team Vitality. paiN Gaming earned a 13-6 victory on Overpass, but GamerLegion stormed back to take Nuke 13-6 and Inferno 13-8. The Czech Republic's Oldrich "PR" Novy posted 47 kills and a plus-10 K-D differential for GamerLegion. Guilherme "piriajr" Barbosa led all-Brazilian paiN Gaming with 57 kills and a plus-18 K-D differential. Intel Extreme Masters Atlanta prize pool 1. $125,000 2. $50,000 3. $30,000 4. $20,000 5-6. $12,500 -- Team Vitality, paiN Gaming 7-8. $7,000 -- B8, Astralis 9-12. $5,000 -- FUT Esports, FaZe Clan, SINNERS Esports, Team Liquid 13-16. $4,000 -- BC.Game Esports, NRG, Passion UA, M80 --Field Level Media