Natus Vincere wins StarLadder StarSeries Season 19

23 September 2025

In the world of Counter-Strike, Natus Vincere (often abbreviated as NAVI) is a household name. Back in 2010, the Ukrainian organization became the first-ever organization to win all official Counter-Strike Majors in a single calendar year and they haven’t looked back since. It was therefore fitting that NAVI became the first team to win a Counter-Strike 2 Major, last year in Copenhagen.

As far as titles are concerned though, 2025 has been a quiet year for the Ukrainian esports organization. That is, until recently, when NAVI manage to crown themselves StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025 champions. Before that, their last important title dated back to October 2024, when they won the Intel Extreme Masters (IEM) Rio 2024, which is too long for an organization with the reputation of Natus Vincere in the world of international esports.

StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025

The StarSeries championship is a championship that is being organized by StarLadder, a Ukrainian esports event organizer, since 2011. It is therefore no surprise that their history with Natus Vincere goes way back. The team actually booked considerable successes at the StarLadder StarSeries (and related events) throughout the years, including victories at StarLadder StarSeries IX and StarLadder StarSeries XIII.

The StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025, which was played online from September 18th to September 21st, represented the nineteenth season of the championship. It brought together eight world-class Counter-Strike teams, including Swedish esports organization Ninjas in Pyjamas (NIP), Ukrainian organization B8 and, of course, Natus Vincere. They all started in the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, after which the four losing sides faced each other in the Lower Bracket Round 1 and so forth.

Unbeaten

NAVI started their StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025 with a game against 9INE from Sweden. The Ukrainians got off to a terrible start in their nineteenth season, as they immediately lost their first map (Ancient, 8 – 13). This would end up being the only map Natus Vincere lost during the championship though, as the Ukrainian organization got their ducks in a row just in time to turn it around and progress to the Upper Bracket Semifinals.

Next up was Passion UA, a Ukrainian esports team founded by Arsenal footballer and Ukraine national team player Oleksandr Zinchenko. They fell to NAVI 2-0 and the winners repeated this performance a game later, when they had to face Ninjas in Pyjamas in the Upper Bracket Final. The Swedish organization dropped to the Lower Bracket Final and because they won that one against B8, they got another chance to beat Natus Vincere, this time in the Grand Final.

Superior defense

In all honesty, the Grand Final was not much different from the Upper Bracket Final, at least not in terms of scorelines and dominance. NAVI dominated the encounter for most of it, particularly thanks to their superior defense, while Ninjas in Pyjamas did not possess the quality to take the initiative. A quick 13 – 7 score on Nuke followed by a 13 – 10 victory on Inferno helped NAVI clinch the StarLadder StarSeries Fall 2025, their first major title since IEM Rio 2024.