On October 21, the group stage of the IEM New York CIS came to an end. As a result, two teams were determined who will go straight through to the semifinals and four more who will face each other in quarterfinal matches. Most of the participants of the next stage of the tournament were determined a few days ago, and the attention of spectators was drawn to Natus Vincere, which before that lost to forZe and Virtus.pro. The team's problems were due to the poor health of Ilya «Perfecto» Zalutsky, who was diagnosed with a coronavirus a few days ago.
Nevertheless, NAVI managed to earn the right to get out of the group by winning the match against Espada without losing a single card. In an interview that Kirill «Boombl4» Mikhailov gave after the team reached the playoffs, the player said that Natus Vincere considered withdrawing from the tournament. Perfecto's health deteriorated on the day the final match was played, and the significance of the RMR tournament in the absence of a clear majors schedule remains unclear.
NAVI's next match will be played on October 23. The quarterfinals will take place on this day: Natus Vincere will meet Gambit, and forZe will meet Nemiga. Virtus.Pro and Spirit will start the playoffs right from the semifinals.
