The first map was on Inferno where the team have had two games earlier and won one each, but it wasn’t close today as Gambit had extra gears in their game.
After a great start at the CT side for Gambit, where they especially were good to take control of the A bombsite, it was very difficult for Astralis to attack the perfect precession of the defensive lines from Gambit, a clear demonstration of powers in a first half where they won 9-6.
In the second half, it wasn’t easy for Astralis leading into the CT side being behind by three, and Gambit bulldozed clean and easy through the defense from Astralis, they made it look very easy for them.
Astralis didn’t manage to fight back against the strong Russian roster, and they went on to win 7-2 in the second half, which was enough for them to win the map very comfortably 16-8.
Therefore, it was needed for Astralis to step up on Gambit´s map choice in the tunnels of Overpass, but they failed to deliver.
In the second half Gambit was a step further forward than Astralis on every move they made, Astralis couldn’t contain the perfect T side offensive operations, and by the end of the first half, they were behind by 10-5.
And it seemed like the Astralis roster had given up in the second half, as they couldn’t do anything against the strong Gambit defense on Overpass, they went on to win two rounds but lost six, and that was enough for Gambit to win the map and match 16-7.
It was a difficult game for Astralis, especially with Ax1Le in this kind of form, it is always fantastic to see the top player hit their highest level, and the Russian did that today against the Danes.
Gambit – 
Astralis 2-0 | IEM Summer 2021
Inferno: 16-8 | Ax1Le – 1.83 Rating – 101.9 ADR – 27-11 K/D
Overpass: 16-7 | Ax1Le – 1.79 Rating – 114.9 ADR – 26-13 K/D
MVP: Sergey ”Ax1Le Rykhtorov – 1.81 Rating – 108.3 ADR – 53-24 K/D
Watch an Ax1Le ace from the game here:
