Astralis defeated Nemiga 3-1 in the grand final of Stake Ranked Episode 4 on Sunday, securing their first offline trophy since December 2019. The championship marks the end of a six-year and ten-month title drought on LAN for the Danish organization, while also confirming their qualification for the upcoming Major in Singapore.
Lower bracket run leads to Stake Ranked title
The road to the $100,000 tournament title required an extensive recovery. Astralis suffered an opening round 1-2 defeat to Alliance in Barcelona, dropping straight into the lower bracket on October 1. From there, the team strung together five consecutive series victories to stay alive in the competition.
Astralis eliminated FaZe and BIG in three-map battles, swept fnatic 2-0, and overcame Luminosity 2-1 on Sunday afternoon to earn a spot in the best-of-five grand final.
Prior to this victory, Astralis had not claimed a recognized LAN championship since the BLAST Pro Series Global Final in Bahrain in December 2019, which was won by the organization’s four-time Major-winning core. While Astralis secured a first-place finish at Copenhagen Gaming Week in January 2024, that event held unranked showmatch status.
Staehr powers grand final victory over Nemiga
The grand final started on Mirage, where Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard delivered a dominant 2.30 rating across a 13-6 Astralis victory. Nemiga pushed back on Ancient, leveling the series with a 13-10 win on the back of a disciplined defense.
Astralis took control of the match on the remaining two maps. Victor “Staehr” Staehr posted a 2.02 rating during a 13-5 win on Nuke, then closed out the fourth map on Cache with an ace clutch to seal a 13-7 result and the series win.
Staehr finished the grand final at the top of the scoreboard with 66 kills and a 1.41 rating. He concluded the Barcelona event with an overall rating of 1.27, the highest among all players in the tournament.
The victory also marked the first title for head coach Filip “NEO” Kubski, who took over the coaching reins in the summer.
Major qualification confirmed alongside top ten return
The tournament victory returned Astralis to the global top ten for the first time since June. Beyond the immediate ranking points, the result also settled their Major status.
HLTV’s projection model confirms that Astralis has now mathematically guaranteed qualification for the Singapore Major, holding a 91.1% probability of starting directly in Stage 2. The roster joins FUT, G2, Vitality, Spirit, MOUZ, Falcons, and Aurora as the first eight European teams to secure their spots.
Nemiga leaves Barcelona with a 15th-place world ranking and a projected 69.8% likelihood of qualifying for Singapore.
