Astralis eliminate Movistar Riders in two maps

Only a single qualifying spot for the BLAST Premier Sping Finals 2022 is up for grabs at the current BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2022 event. Locking horns in the quarter-finals of the event were Astralis and Movistar Riders. With elimination on the line, both teams needed a victory to stay alive at the event. Whilst Astralis were the favorites on paper, going into the brawl, Movistar Riders are currently riding on a wave of recent success, seeing them sit at their best peak of all time at #12 in the world. An exciting game was on the cards when the two teams geared up for war. Once the brawl had started, however, it was clear that one team was simply better than the other. The Danish boys of Astralis secured a victory on Inferno without too much difficulty and absolutely destroyed Movistar Riders on Ancient. The 2-0 victory for Astralis means that they will be facing the winner of NiP - Bad News Eagles in the Semi-finals of the event.

The first map of the series was picked by the Spanish boys of Movistar Riders and saw the brawl kick off on Inferno. Being a map that both teams are more than familiar with and that "gla1ve" at one point in the golden age of Astralis revolutionized, a close battle seemed destined on Inferno. It was Astralis to hit the ground running and look the most comfortable in the early rounds. This, however, was only until Movistar Riders woke up and posted a great performance themselves. At the scoreline of 8-7, things were as close as possible before switching sides in the second half of Inferno. The second half brought more close battles between the two rosters, with Astralis coming out on top more often than not. Thanks to the two star players of Astralis in "blameF" and "k0nfig", the Danes managed to post a confident T-sided half and to close out Inferno at the scoreline of 16-12.

The second map of the Bo3-series was picked by Astralis and meant, perhaps unsurprisingly, that the brawl headed to Ancient. The map of Ancient has quickly become one of Astralis' best maps in the official map pool, if not the best one. Starting on their T-side, the arguably more difficult side of Ancient, Astralis looked confident from early on. Movistar Riders themselves, however, posted a somewhat respectable CT-sided half, and at the scoreline of 8-7, the two teams got ready to switch sides. Once the second half had begun it became more and more apparent that Astralis, led by a "k0nfig" on fire, were simply just better on Ancient than the Spaniards. Only dropping a single round on their CT-side, Astralis claimed victory at the scoreline of 16-8.

Highlight of the Bo3-series

Astralis – Movistar Riders 2-0 | BLAST Premier Spring Showdown 2022 Europe

16-12 (Inferno) |  blameF - 1.51 Rating / 25-15 K-D / 99.0 ADR

16-8 (Ancient |  k0nfig - 1.87 Rating / 31-15 K-D / 122.3 ADR

MVP:  Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke - 1.53 Rating / 53-34 K-D / 103.5 ADR