Heroic prevail in nail-biting Danish derby

The second Bo3-series on the second day of Group D at the ESL Pro League Season 15 saw Astralis lock horns with Heroic in an intense Danish derby. Both rosters managed to win their first Bo3-series of the event yesterday and a close thriller between the two Danish sides was undoubtedly on the cards. Heroic were the slight favorites going into the Bo3-series, however, with Astralis having finally found their fifth man and their main AWP'er in "farlig", it was impossible to tell what direction the brawl was headed. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Bo3-series went all three maps before finding a winner. A nail-biting three maps between the ten Danish players ultimately concluded with Heroic as the victors, meaning a back-to-back victory for them at the ESL Pro League Season 15.

The first map of the series was picked by Astralis and was set to take place on Ancient. With an impressive win-rate of 75% in the past three months (8 maps), it is no surprise that "gla1ve" and his troops opted for Ancient as their map pick. It was also Astralis to have the strongest start on Ancient, despite starting on the arguably harder T-side. An early 6-2 lead favoring the T's proved a fierce and ready Astralis on Ancient. The slight lead, however, was quickly nullified as Heroic squared things up at 6-6. The first half of Ancient ended slightly in favor of Astralis at 8-7. At first, the second half was just as close as the previous half, however, once "k0nfig" began gaining confidence in his CT-sided pushes, it was too much for Heroic to handle. At 16-12, Astralis claimed Ancient as theirs and managed to secure a map-advantage going into the second map of the Bo3-series.

The second map of the series was picked by Heroic and saw the brawl continue on Overpass. Being a map that both teams are fairly familiar with and have played a lot of in the past it was bound to be a close affair between the two Danish rosters on Overpass. With momentum carrying over from the victory on Ancient it was a confident Astralis to dominate the first half on Overpass. At 10-5, Heroic had to see themselves behind before switching to their own CT-side of Overpass. Astralis continued their dominance on Overpass as the second half began and it didn't take long before they had secured series-point at the scoreline of 15-7. It seemed as if Overpass was all Astralis until a Heroic clutch from "sjuush" kept the comeback dream alive. Winning eight consecutive rounds off the incredible clutch from "sjuush", Heroic forced overtime on Overpass. At 19-16, it was Heroic to claim on Overpass after an incredible comeback and force a third and final map.

The third and final map of the series was set to be played on Vertigo, where a victor between the two Danish rosters would be found. As expected, the first half of Vertigo was as close as possible. Both teams refused to give their opponents an inch as they exchanged rounds back and forth. At 8-7, favoring the T-side of Heroic, the first half of Vertigo concluded. The second half carried on as the first had finished, close. With very little separating the two teams it was as close as possible throughout the entirety of Vertigo. A winner wasn't found in regulation time on Vertigo either. Just like Overpass, overtime was needed. Ultimately, however, it was Heroic to close out Vertigo at the scoreline of 22-19 and claim a 2-1 victory against Astralis.

The 2-1 victory against Astralis puts Heroic at the top of Group D with two consecutive Bo3-series under their belt at ESL Pro League Season 15.

Highlight of the Bo3-series

Heroic - Astralis 2-1 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group D)

12-16 (Ancient) | k0nfig - 1.47 Rating / 29-22 K-D / 112.5 ADR

19-16 (Overpass) | stavn – 1.65 Rating / 36-24 K-D / 106.9 ADR

22-19 (Vertigo) | sjuush – 1.45 Rating / 35-21 K-D / 94.3 ADR

MVP: Martin ”stavn” Lund | 1.36 Rating / 91-69 K-D / 96.5 ADR