Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen and Astralis are off to a flying start at PGL Astana, picking up their second straight win in Kazakhstan on Sunday.
After dispatching ODDIK on the opening day, the Danes followed up with a confident 2-0 win over paiN Gaming. That means HooXi remains undefeated since joining Astralis on loan ahead of the $1.25 million tournament.
Astralis took down paiN with scorelines of 13-4 on Nuke and 13-9 on Inferno, taking full advantage of a weakened Brazilian side currently playing with head coach Henrique “rikz” Waku as a stand-in. rikz struggled in the series, finishing with a 0.51 rating.
On the flip side, Martin “stavn” Lund put on a dominant performance, ending the series with a 1.81 rating and 41 kills, leading Astralis to a clean sweep.
Despite the 2-0 record, it’s fair to say Astralis have yet to be fully tested. Their first opponent, ODDIK, came in as one of the lowest-ranked teams at the event, and paiN are operating with a temporary roster.
That will likely change tomorrow, when Astralis face another 2-0 team in what should be their first true challenge of the tournament.
Sunday’s Schedule & Results
- 07:00 – The MongolZ vs MIBR 2-0
- 07:00 – Virtus.pro vs M80 2-1
- 09:00 – Astralis vs paiN 2-0
- 10:00 – GamerLegion vs FURIA
- 10:00 – NAVI vs BIG
- 13:00 – Aurora vs HOTU
- 16:00 – Spirit vs NIP
- 16:00 – G2 vs ODDIK
Current Standings
2-0 teams:
- Astralis
- The MongolZ
1-0 teams (pending results):
- NAVI, BIG, Spirit, NIP
1-1 teams:
- paiN, Virtus.pro, MIBR
0-1 teams (pending results):
- G2, ODDIK, GamerLegion, FURIA, Aurora, HOTU
0-2 team:
- M80
