Astralis move past forZe in Quarter-final
What a comeback from Astralis on Nuke!
The last brawl of the day at the ongoing Roobet Cup 2022 event is set to be a brawl between Astralis and forZe. Both teams will be fighting for a spot in the Semi-finals of the event, where they will face FaZe in a battle for a ticket to the Grand Final of the $250.000 event. On paper, Astralis were the favorites going into the Bo3-series, however, if you have followed Astralis as of late you know that consistency has been a major issue for the iconic Danish team. forZe on the other hand find themselves in a position as the underdogs, a position where they can only surprise positively if they were to take down the Danes. Unfortunately for forZe, that never happened. A masterclass in CT-sided Mirage as well as an incredible comeback on Nuke meant that it was Astralis to walk away from battle with a victory to their name. The victory against forZe means that Astralis will meat FaZe in tomorrow's Semi-finals for a chance to make it to the Grand Final of the event.
The first map of the Bo3-series took place on Mirage and was picked by forZe. Whilst Mirage has historically been a map that the Danes have shied away from, things have changed since they added "k0nfig" and "blameF" and it showed already from the beginning of the battle between forZe and Astralis. Starting on the CT-side, Astralis began their masterclass on how to perfect a defensive half on Mirage. Spearheaded by the aforementioned "k0nfig" and "blameF", the Danes took complete control of Mirage within a matter of a few rounds. Failing to find any answers to the defense of Astralis, forZe had to see themselves behind at a soul-crushing scoreline of 13-2 at halftime. Once the two teams had switched sides it became apparent that it was the T-side, in particular, that was causing forZe problems. Although it was too late to do anything about defeat, forZe managed to make the scoreline somewhat respectable as they had to see themselves bested on their own map pick at 16-8.
The second map of the brawl between Astralis and forZe was the pick of the Danes and meant a trip down memory lane to Nuke. Astralis used to be almost unbeatable on the cement of Nuke and whilst it is nowhere near as dominating an Astralis roster we are witnessing on Nuke to this day, it is still a map where "gla1ve" can let his mastermind run free. He had the chance to do exactly that from the beginning of the map, as it was Astralis' turn to start on the T-side. Just like forZe on Mirage, Astralis completely crumbled on their T-side of Nuke. A much more confident forZe roster had Astralis' number dialed no matter what execute the Danes tried setting up. After a dominant performance on Mirage, Astralis had to see themselves behind at halftime at the scoreline of 11-4. Just as poor as the T-side of Astralis had been in the first half, however, just as good was their CT-side in the second half. A far more cohesive performance saw Astralis slowly but surely nullifying the enormous lead forZe had created for themselves. At the scoreline of 14-14, everything was tied up between the two teams. Regulation time proved inadequate as Astralis and forZe headed into overtime to find the victor. After a long and hard-fought battle on Nuke it was the Danes of Astralis to come out on top. At the scoreline of 22-19, they managed to claim victory on Nuke, defeat forZe 2-0, and secure a spot in the Semi-finals of Roobet Cup 2022.
Astralis - forZe 2-0 | Roobet Cup 2022 (Quarter-finals)
16-8 (Mirage) | blameF - 1.56 Rating / 26-15 K-D / 102.0 ADR
22-19 (Nuke) | blameF - 1.27 Rating / 34-27 K-D / 87.7 ADR
MVP: Bejanmin "blameF" Bremer - 1.37 Rating / 60-42 K-D / 93.0 ADR