B1ad3 accuses EF fans of shouting info during the EPL Grand Final series

After a long month of Counter-Strike, NAVI left Malta with the ESL Pro League Season 20 title after defeating Eternal Fire 3-2 in the grand final.

Although the tournament ended yesterday, NAVI's coach, Andrey "B1ad3" Gorodenskiy posted today on X that he believes Turkish Eternal Fire fans were shouting information to the players on the stage, adding that other Turkish-speaking people in the venue have backed the accusation to him. Dust2.us has not be able to verify those claims.

It didn't take long before someone from the Turkish side entered the discussion, as Eternal Fire IGL Engin "MAJ3R" Küpeli claimed that the players never heard any information and that NAVI had more fans than Eternal Fire in the studio. MAJ3R also blamed Natus Vincere fans for potentially costing him a clutch on Ancient in that series. The Turkish captain concluded that both teams suffered from the same problems but, in a follow-up response, wrote that it was impossible to hear the fans speaking.

Eternal Fire's General Manager joined the conversation, arguing that his players avoided taking advantage of the crowd, that NAVI had even more fans close to their booth, and that this was a venue problem.

Chad "SPUNJ" Burchill, who cast the series, entered the discourse by providing a demo review of MAJ3R's clutch on Mirage B-site, as the IGL claimed to have heard a step while some fans accused him of using information provided by Turkish fans.

The video, which follows up with Ihor "w0nderful" Zhdanov's point of view, clearly shows that the young NAVI player made a noise that alerted MAJ3R to his opponent's position.

Although this has been a recurring discourse, with some tournament organizers electing not to show the X-ray on venue streams, both parties involved in this case have agreed that the fans shouldn't have been so close to the stage as they were in Malta.