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Esports

IEM Atlanta 2026: Natus Vincere lift trophy after defeating GamerLegion in the grand final

The Ukrainian organisation claims its first major trophy since IEM Rio 2024.
Ben Lyons Senior Editor 18 May 2026

It hasn't been an easy few years for Natus Vincere in the world of competitive Counter-Strike 2, as while the Ukrainian team has always been in the conversation for major titles, it hasn't managed to get over the line for two years, with its last trophy being IEM Rio 2024.

Things have now changed however as over the past weekend, NAVI came out on top at IEM Atlanta, where the team defeated GamerLegion in the grand finale in a 3-0 fashion and secured the trophy plus $125,000 in prize money for its effort.

https://x.com/IEM/status/2056126488072896664

This result also saw NAVI have to do things the hard way, as the team defeated the usually indomitable Team Vitality in the playoffs quarterfinals in a 2-1 result, before then dispatching BetBoom Team in the semifinals in a 2-0 manner, all before making short work of GamerLegion afterwards.

As for what's next for NAVI, the team will be travelling to Germany to appear at IEM Cologne between June 2 and 21.

Senior Editor Ben was a Senior Editor at Gamereactor UK. When he wasn’t writing, editing or filming for Gamereactor, he could usually be found playing an FPS or getting lost in a sprawling RPG.
Full profile Gamereactor author since October 2020 · 18,577 published articles
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