NAVI take down Falcons in the IEM Beijing opener

Natus Vincere opened IEM Beijing with a 2-0 win over Team Falcons on Monday. It ended a run of two straight series losses to the Major champions and sent them into the lower bracket on the first day.

Mirage went to the wire

Ancient turned one-sided after the break. NAVI led after their T half, then took the CT side so cleanly that Falcons did not win a single round on the attack.

Mirage was the real fight. It was tied at the half, and after Falcons went two rounds up early in the second, neither side led by more than one until the final two rounds.

NAVI, on the T side by then, won both to close out the series.

An upset by the numbers

Falcons came in as the favorite. They sat seventh in the Valve Regional Standings released the same day, six places above NAVI, and Polymarket listed NAVI at 45% before the first map.

The recent meetings pointed the same way. Falcons won both of them 2-1, in June on the way to their Cologne Major title and in October at ESL Pro League.

Monday turned that around, and it leaves Falcons in trouble early. They now play FaZe in the lower bracket, and the loser of that series goes home.

What’s next for NAVI

NAVI face FURIA in the upper-bracket semifinal. Two more wins make them group winners and put them straight into the playoff semifinals.

CS2 · IEM Beijing 2026 · Bo3 Finished FURIAFURIA 2–1 Natus VincereNAVI