Natus Vincere are ?? ??? ??through to the semi-finals at ESL One Cologne 2018 after defeating fnatic on two maps (16-12 on Overpass, 16-10 on Train).

The first quarter-final of the day kicked off on Natus Vincere's map pick, Overpass, with fnatic winning their CT pistol on the back of a triple-kill from Richard "?Xizt?" Landstr?m. But Na`Vi immediately countered them with a successful force-buy, with Egor "?flamie?" Vasilyev denying Jesper "?JW?" Wecksell from clutching a 1v3 situation.

The Ukrainian team used that momentum to build a strong lead, with fnatic only breaking that streak in the 12th round. The Swedes strung two rounds together, but then Na`Vi won two of their own to restore a commanding nine-round lead before switching sides.

Just like in the first half, the Swedes picked up the pistol but could not follow that up. Although fnatic went on a massive run after Natus Vincere had hit map-point, the Ukrainians remained calm and collected, closing out the map at 16-12, flamie topping the scoreboard with a 30-bomb.

Natus Vincere will take on Astralis on Saturday

Train, fnatic's map pick, began with a great triple-kill from Oleksandr "?s1mple?" Kostyliev to help Natus Vincere secure their first pistol of the series. With a strong CT setup, Na`Vi further added to their lead convincingly, winning four rounds in a row without much effort.

fnatic then brought the deficit to a minimum with a four-round streak, forcing Natus Vincere to tighten up their defence. With s1mple leading the way with, Na`Vi kept their opponents at bay and switched sides with an 11-4 lead.

In the second half, the Swedish squad won their CT pistol, but, for the third time in the series, they could not prevail on the anti-eco. Natus Vincere then won their 13th round thanks to Denis "?electroNic?" Sharipov's triple-kill in a 2v3 situation.

Surprisingly enough, Xizt's men responded with nothing but pistols, which inspired them to hit 10 rounds. However, a 2v3 clutch from flamie and Danylo "?Zeus?" Teslenko turned the game around and set Natus Vincere up for a 16-10 victory that puts them through to the semi-finals, in which they will take on Astralis.

ESL One Cologne 2018Best of 3 Natus VincereMatchpage 2 0 6th July 2018 fnatic 16Overpass 12 16Train 10

?Natus Vincere	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Egor 'flamie' Vasilyevflamie	54 - 27	+27	87.8	1.47
Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostylievs1mple	49 - 28	+21	94.9	1.45
Denis 'electroNic' SharipovelectroNic	48 - 35	+13	105.3	1.44
Danylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoZeus	28 - 32	-4	57.1	0.96
Ioann 'Edward' SukharievEdward	29 - 36	-7	65.0	0.93

?fnatic	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Robin 'flusha' R?nnquistflusha	38 - 41	-3	85.4	1.09
Jesper 'JW' WecksellJW	37 - 45	-8	79.1	0.92
Freddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonKRIMZ	36 - 38	-2	68.3	0.89
William 'draken' Sundindraken	25 - 43	-18	55.3	0.68
Richard 'Xizt' Landstr?mXizt	22 - 41	-19	55.9	0.65

Danylo 'Zeus' Teslenko Age: 30 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 0.93 Maps played: 1201 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.69 Richard 'Xizt' Landstr?m Age: 27 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.02 Maps played: 1348 KPR: 0.69 DPR: 0.65 fnatic #9 Richard 'Xizt' Landstr?mRobin 'flusha' R?nnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonWilliam 'draken' Sundin Denis 'electroNic' Sharipov Age: 19 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.11 Maps played: 585 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.68 Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' H?jslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Jesper 'JW' Wecksell Age: 23 Team: fnatic Rating 1.0: 1.08 Maps played: 1339 KPR: 0.75 DPR: 0.68 Egor 'flamie' Vasilyev Age: 21 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 1013 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.67 Oleksandr 's1mple' Kostyliev Age: 20 Team: Natus Vincere Rating 1.0: 1.22 Maps played: 834 KPR: 0.85 DPR: 0.67 Natus Vincere #3 Ioann 'Edward' SukharievDanylo 'Zeus' TeslenkoEgor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' Sharipov