Natus Vincere began the BLAST Open Porto 2026 Group Stage with a loss to M80. After winning the first map, the team struggled to execute their plan on Mirage, making critical errors including a poor full USP round.

iM acknowledged the team’s preparation but highlighted execution issues. “I think we came quite prepared,” iM said. “We won the first map, then knew what to do and had a plan for Mirage. We couldn’t execute it for some reason-small details, missed calls, a bad full USP. I think overall we just need to regain confidence, even though it’s hard to do it this way. We’ll do everything possible in the lower bracket.”

NAVI will now compete in the lower bracket, facing an uphill battle to advance in the tournament.