For the first time since 2016, the Danish powerhouse of Astralis will not be part of the last 16 of a Major. The Danes were knocked out of the PGL Antwerp Major earlier today by Team Liquid.

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After the defeat, in-game leader Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander commented on the exit on his Twitter.

- That's it for us this time, it feels really bad to go out this early and I am fucking disappointed in myself in general at this event. Had the chance today but didn't grab it sadly, gg wp TeamLiquidCS. Not really much more to say than sorry to the fans - feels terrible.

Down below we have gathered the reactions from Benjamin "blameF" Bremer and Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke from the Danish roster.

gla1ve

k0nfig

blameF

Astralis

With the first five Legends Stages spots being taken, it means there are only three tickets left to play for at the ongoing Major championship. One thing is clear - The next stage will be without either Astralis or Liquid as the two top-tier teams are set to go head-to-head for a fierce decider match at 12:00 (CET). 

You can find today's schedule down below. 

The $1,000,000 tournament is starting next week. Here 16 teams will fight to make it into the Legends stage of the Major.

The Finnish Organization will be one of the hottest going into the Major. Their win at BLAST Spring Showdown underlined their perfectly timed form. In the Challengers stage, ENCE will face 9z Team in the first round.

Player to watch: Lotan "Spinx" Giladi is playing some of the best Counter-Strike in his career. If the Israeli can perform on the big stage, he could be one of the best players in the tournament.

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trace has been promoted as headcoach on a permanent basis after several good performances.

The four-time Major winners are beginning to look good again. The signing of Asger "farlig" Jensen on the AWP and Martin "trace" Heldt as a coach has been a revelation for the Danes. For the first time in a year, it is actually looking promising for Astalis, who was only bested by ENCE in the Grand Final of BLAST Spring Showdown last week.

Player to watch: If Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke can deliver consistently on a high level, then Astralis will be a dangerous team at the Major. With Benjamin "blameF" Bremer already in excellent shape, it could be real fun for the fans of Astralis if k0nfig also fired on all cylinders at the event.

The French/Danish roster had one of the most difficult routes to Antwerp with matches against #1 and #2 in the world. In the end they still qualified and it did look better for the team. Most notable was the rise of Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut, who finally showcased his great talent on the new roster.

Player to watch: All eyes will be on the young Frenchman Kévin "misutaaa" Rabier. The 19-year-old rifler has suffered the most from the switch from the all-French roster to the new international one. With four events in row below 1.00 rating there will be talks about replacing misutaaa on the team, if doesn’t deliver at PGL Antwerp.

The Grand Finalist from the 2021 Major in Stockholm are looking shaky in 2022. They started well with the second place at IEM Katowice, but since then the performances on the server have not been impressive. Nemanja "huNter-" Kovač is the only player on the team with consistent performances. The alarm bells were ringing after they lost their opening match against Anonymo at the RMR qualifier, but in the end they got the job done with a win against Astralis in overtime on the decider map. We could easily see G2 make a slow start to the Challenger Stage but still qualify.

Player to watch: Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov will be playing his first major at the age of 17-years-old. There will be a huge pressure on the young AWP’er to perform on the biggest stage. So how will he do? We are looking forward to seeing him at the Major.

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FalleN with his new teammates at the RMR tournament.

Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo’s new project got off to a great start qualifying for the Antwerp Major and then went on to also qualify for IEM Dallas. The Brazilians took down MIBR at the Dallas qualifier to prove, that they could be the second strongest team from South America after FURIA.

Player to watch: Lincoln "fnx" Lau has one of the most crazy stats in all of CS:GO. The 32-year-old Brazilian have won two Majors in his career but have only ever attended two. He has a 100% win-rate at Majors, so who wouldn’t have him on their team at a Major?

There are a lot of teams in contention for the last three spots. The Swiss Group Stage format can be brutal for teams in this echelon. Eternal Fire got the taste of it at the European RMR tournament, where they were paired with FaZe and Team Vitality along their way. This time they will face Bad News Eagles in an early key match. A win will most likely give the Turks a big boost towards qualifying for the Legends stage.

Player to watch: Ismailcan 'XANTARES' Dörtkardeş is back at a Major for the third time in his career. The Turkish rifler is coming in hot at the event with several huge performances during 2022 for Eternal Fire.

They looked really good at the Americas RMR tournament, but the big question is if that was a one-off. Since they qualified for Antwerp MIBR has lost to both Imperial and paiN. Their opening match against Outsiders will be pivotal. MIBR rarely plays against Europeans, so it is hard to predict the faith of the Brazilians at the event.

Player to watch: Jhonatan "JOTA" Willian has never played against a top 20 team in the world! So how will he do against tougher opposition?

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shox says hello to his new teammate EliGE at an event last year

The sheer amount of experience on the Team Liquid roster should be enough to see them qualify for the next stage. But the results of the new roster have not been convincing in the past couple of months. Their last match was a loss against paiN at the BLAST Spring Showdown, which again ignited the doubters of the team. The North Americans enter the tournament with a Contender status, which has given them a tough draw in the first round, where they will face G2. We still believe that the stars of Liquid find a way through.

Player to watch: Is Richard "shox" Papillon the right fit for Team Liquid? This Major will probably give us the answer. The 29-year-old veteran has always been a joy to watch, but can he still deliver for Team Liquid?

It is a tough time for all the CIS teams at the moment. The war in Ukraine has certainly had its influence on the competitive CS:GO scene as well. Outsiders (Virtus.pro) have been a shadow of themselves. They were 0.02 seconds away from missing out on the Major, while rumors are already sending their starplayer Mareks "YEKINDAR" Gaļinskis away to join a new team after the Major.

forZe and Spirit could also be dark horses for a spot in the next stage, while Bad News Eagles are the last team, that we have chosen to highlight. As the only second team in history to compete in a Major without an organization, the roster from Kosovo can play without any expectations from the outside world. A fact that can make them dangerous to face.

Spinx

Misutaaa

m0NESY

XANTARES

shox

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. 

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

16-12 (Inferno) | {cflag:DK} blameF - 1.51 Rating / 25-15 K-D / 99.0 ADR

16-8 (Ancient | {cflag:DK} k0nfig - 1.87 Rating / 31-15 K-D / 122.3 ADR

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

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Movistar Riders

It is with big confidence, that Movistar Riders enters BLAST Spring Showdown. The Spaniards have managed to turn a bad start to 2022 into a much more exciting one with good run at ESL Pro League Season 15, where they went 5-0 in the Group Stages.

Today the Spanish team is tasked with the job of eliminating Astralis in order to keep the dream of participating in the BLAST Spring Finals in Lisbon alive. A match that the longest-standing member of the team, Alejandro "mopoz" Fernández-Quejo Cano, looks forward to.

- We are going to give everything we have. I really look forward to playing against them. It's not only the players but also the Organization that is one of the pillars of CS:GO. 

The 25-year-old Movistar Riders player has faced Astralis once before in a best-of-one match, but today's rendezvous with the Danes is the first time, that the entry-fragger will go head to head with Astralis in a best of three match.

- They have super experienced players like gla1ve and Xyp9x. k0nfig for me is one of the best players in the world and the best rifler, mopoz explains.

mopoz

Xyp9x

The BLAST Premier Spring Showdown consists of a Bo3 single-elimination bracket, which means that every match is life or death. The winner will take one of the remaining two spots at BLAST Premier Spring Final 2022.

Here we give you a run-through of the teams, that we have placed in different brackets; Favorites, Contenders, and Outsiders.

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 is the only team to be featured in the favorites category because that is exactly what they are: The favorites. Heroic has consistently been a top ten team for more than a year now, and most recently they secured Legends status at the PGL Major Antwerp by beating Na'Vi and going undefeated at the RMR. Heroic is on paper the best team right now.

Player to watch: {cflag:DK} Martin "stavn" Lund has been delivering at a superstar level in 2022 where he rates as the third-best player in the world. The 20-year-old star rifler is the key to success for Heroic.

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started the year slowly with a disappointing result at IEM Katowice but has slowly gotten better and better. The addition of "Maden" has made them a force to be reckoned with which they showed with a great performance at ESL Pro League. ENCE are looking good but they still need a bit more consistency to become a favorite.

Player to watch: {cflag:IL} Lotan "Spinx" Giladi is the x-factor for ENCE. He is what they need to take down the best of the best, as he has shown that he can outperform ANYONE if he gets in the zone.

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's performance as of late has surprised no one. They have done some good work but can never really seem to finish the job. The addition of "Brollan", who is considered by many to be the best Swedish player, has elevated the squad and given them hope for the future.

Player to watch: {cflag:DK} Patrick "es3tag" Hansen, the jack of all trades, has taken up the role as the team's main AWP'er, and he will have to perform consistently for the Ninjas to win.

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 just barely qualified for the major after taking down HEET. After acquiring "Farlig", the four-time Major-winning organization has looked a lot more dangerous, and they have an incredibly high skill ceiling. When everything is flowing for the Danes they can take down anyone, but they often have trouble delivering consistently over a series or tournament.

Player to watch: {cflag:DK} Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke needs to become the walking death-machine that he was when he first joined Astralis. When he is ON his impact can be felt around the world.

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come into this tournament with something to prove. The Spanish squad went 5-0 in the Group Stage of ESL Pro League taking down teams such as BIG, Players (Cloud9), and Liquid, but fell short as soon as they hit the playoffs. This is their opportunity for revenge!

Player to watch: {cflag:ES} Alvaro "SunPayus" Garcia has consistently been the best performing Spanish player, and he is definitely one to look out for!

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has had the same roster for nearly a year now and the results they have shown have been very varied. The team recently secured Legends status at PGL Major Antwerp by going undefeated at the RMR, but just a month prior they lost a Bo3 against the relatively unknown team Bluejays. When they play their best game they can take down even the giants, but the lack of consistency makes it very hard to place this young Danish squad at the very top.

Player to watch: {cflag:DK} Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard is the future of the Flames and has shown that he has superstar potential. He finished the Europe RMR with a rating of 1.40, edging out players such as "sh1ro" and "NiKo".

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 recently made history when they qualified for the upcoming Major, but they will have to perform at an even higher level to take the Spring Final spot. The Kosovar team has performed at a good level in 2022 and has won the majority of their matches, but they have yet to actually beat a tier 1 team. They will have to do something spectacular to win an event with such a high percentage of great teams.

Player to watch: Flatron "juanflatroo" Halimi is the most explosive player the Eagles have available, and he will have to play at his absolute top level if the Kosovars are to succeed in their quest.

 is a very unknown quantity. The Asian-based team is currently ranked #99 in the world and has yet to be tested against the European scene. NKT are definitely the underdogs, but what it would be if they won!

Player to watch: {cflag:MN} Gan-Erdene "dobu" Batbold has performed admirably over the last three months where he averages a 1.20 rating. "dobu" has shown moments of explosive and electric plays, and will have to continue to do so to carry his team who he has only played with for two months.

Wednesday 16.30: ENCE - Copenhagen Flames

Thursday 16.30: Astralis - Movistar Riders

dobu

juanflatroo

stavn

Jabbi

es3tag

SunPayus

Heroic

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Bad News Eagles

ENCE

Copenhagen Flames

Astralis have qualified for every Major since 2016 when the Danish Organization was founded. Today came close to being the first time of missing out. But when it mattered the most, the Danes regained composure and kept their heads cool.

Both teams were 2-2 before the final decider match, where the winner would advance to the Antwerp Major, while the loser would be out.

On Dust2 the match started well for the Danes taking a 10-5 lead to the break. But on their T-side everything went wrong. It was the French "Lucky", Lucas 'Lucky' Chastang that took control in the second half, where HEET turned the match upside down and won Dust2 16-13.

Ancient has been Astralis-territory lately. The Danes have quickly mastered the newest map in the map pool, and are considered some of the best in the world on the map. With seven T-sides on the board, the Danes just needed to deliver their usual potent CT side to force the match to overtime. But HEET was not done making an impact, and at 14-11 in favor of the Frenchmen, it looked like a gigantic sensation was underway. But then this happened.

Farlig's ace kickstarted the Danes who avoided the upset on Ancient to keep the Major dream alive.

It was hard not to feel sorry for the Frenchmen, who lost the chance of their life to upset one of the biggest Organizations in one of the most important matches in their career. They still had the chance on Nuke though, but quickly it was evident, that the underdogs had lost the momentum, that had kept them in contention so long. Astralis cleaned out on their CT-side taking a monumental 11-4 lead to the second half. After a tech pause, the Danes finished off HEET despite a valiant effort from the underdogs. The Danes locked in their Major spot with a 16-11 win on Nuke, with Asger "farlig" Jensen again delivering the needed impact. The Danes become the last team to qualify for the PGL Antwerp Major that takes place next month.

Astralis - HEET 2-1 | PGL Major Antwerp 2022 Europe RMR B

13-16 (Dust2) | {cflag:FR} Lucky - 1.36 Rating / 25-18 K-D / 91.1 ADR

16-14 (Ancient) | {cflag:DK} k0nfig - 1.38 Rating / 28-20 K-D / 93.7 ADR

16-11 (Nuke) | {cflag:DK} k0nfig - 1.70 Rating / 31-16 K-D / 114.0 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke - 1.32 Rating / 77-59 K-D / 94.8 ADR

Lucky

Farlig

HEET

The first quarter-final of the day had the reliable stoic Danes of Astralis going up against the wild, crazy and talented Brazilians of FURIA.

The Bo3 kicked off on Ancient and the map-pickers of Astralis enjoyed a relatively successful T-side on what is commonly known as the most CT-sided map in the pool. After fifteen rounds they were sitting on seven, and they might have taken a couple more if it wasn’t for the ninja defuse abilities of “saffee”.

FURIA raised the tempo of the match as they hit the T-side, which netted them a small streak pushing their lead to four rounds. But FURIA soon started bleeding rounds, and like a shark in the water “k0nfig” smelt the blood of the Brazilians, and soon they were devoured as the Danes secured their map pick after a dominant CT-side.

The second map of the series was FURIA’s pick of Mirage, which they comfortably won 16-11 when they faced the Danes at IEM Katowice. They would now have to make a repeat performance to stay alive at EPL.

Maybe spurred on by the fact that they were playing for their tournament life, the Brazilian squad absolutely pummeled the Astralis defense in the early stages of the first half. The Danes started to show signs of life towards the end of the half but were not able to stop the relentless pressure of the FURIA offense, and now had to make a heroic comeback down 10-5 at halftime.

FURIA, led by IGL "arT", continued their assault after the break and impressively only allowed the Danish squad to take three more rounds before all was said and done.

The deciding map of the series was Nuke, and after a knife round win, Astralis chose to start on the CT-side.

The Danes got off to a great start on this third and final map, going up 5-1 and looking strong. That is when FURIA started abusing the upper site with rushes through lobby. Astralis struggled heavily with containing the fast plays, and whenever they did succeed, “yuurih” somehow were able to claw it back with some fantastic plays in disadvantageous positions. FURIA led by 8-7 at the break.

FURIA continued their stylish display as they completely slaughtered the Danes in the second half. The Brazilians were so dominating that they didn’t let Astralis get a single round on the T-side, and the map ended at 16-7.

FURIA - Astralis 2-1 | ESL Pro League Season 15

13-16 (Ancient) | {cflag:DK} k0nfig - 1.55 Rating / 30-17 K-D / 106.0 ADR

16-8 (Mirage) | {cflag:BR} arT - 1.77 Rating / 26-14 K-D / 106.1 ADR

16-7 (Nuke) | {cflag:BR} yuurih - 1.99 Rating / 30-10 K-D / 118.8 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BR} Yuri "yuurih" Santos - 1.33 Rating / 60-43 K-D / 89.7 ADR

yuurih

FURIA

At ESL Pro League Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke stole the headlines in the match between Astralis and Evil Geniuses.

The Danish rifler made a brave play to secure his team the first round on Vertigo against the North Americans. A move that set the tone for the rest of the match that ended with a Danish victory.

You hear some of the communication from Astralis including the infamous round right here.

The last map, Ancient, did not affect the group, but with a victory over Complexity, the Danes were able to advance with the honor intact. Astralis took the map on Nuke and locked a spot in the playoffs.

The action started with Complexity's map pick of Dust2, where the Americans got off to a strong start taking the lead 7-3. But then Astralis stabilized their defense, began to find their right footing, and secured the rest of the rounds in the first half. The second half started with Complexity winning the pistol round and both teams trading rounds before Grim and company closed the first map of the series 16-13.

Astralis took their second pistol round of the series on the T side, leading to an early 3-0 advantage. floppy came alive on the CT side, finding impact with the rifle and proving as they edged the first half 8-7. Complexity couldn’t win the compulsory pistol on the CT side to maintain their lead and quickly withered as the Danish team ran away with a 16-10 victory.

In the decider of Ancient, the action went back-and-forth with both teams in the early lead. The Danes got used to the playstyle of their opponents and started to dominate at the end of the half, which meant the half ended 9-6 in the favor of Astralis. The Danes won the pistol and the next four rounds before Complexity made a good comeback attempt until, eventually, Astralis closed out the map 16-14.

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

13-16 (Dust2) | {cflag:DK} ⁠blameF – 1.68 Rating / 28-16 K-D / 98.3 ADR

16-10 (Nuke) | {cflag:DK} k0nfig – 1.54 Rating / 27-17 K-D / 90.5 ADR

16-14 (Ancient) | {cflag:US} floppy – 1.47 Rating / 31-20 K-D / 96.5 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} Benjamin "blameF" Bremer – 1.39 Rating / 70-53 K-D / 93.5 ADR

Evil Geniuses – AGO 0-2 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group D)

11-16 (Dust2) | {cflag:PL} ⁠F1KU – 2.27 Rating / 40-13 K-D / 143.7ADR

11-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:PL} leman – 1.52 Rating / 27-13 K-D / 89.6 ADR

MVP: {cflag:PL} Maciej "F1KU" Miklas – 1.67 Rating / 61-30 K-D / 109.3 ADR

floppy

F1KU

leman

compLexity Gaming

Evil Geniuses

In the last game of the day at EPL, the CIS-squad Na'Vi took on the Danes of Astralis. The Danes were really hoping for a win as that would secure a place in the playoffs for them, while Na'Vi had already secured their spot by winning all of their previous matches. The match also so "boombl4" return to action after having been out due to covid.

The Bo3 started on Ancient, and even though it was Astralis’ pick, the Danes did not have a good time in the first half. Every time they were able to find a hole in the defense of Na’Vi, “s1mple” and “electroNic” patched it up with superhuman speed. “k0nfig” was able to do some crazy things from time to time, but that was the only bright spot for the Danes who went to halftime down 12-3.

The break did nothing to help Astralis, as Na’Vi put the pedal to the metal to drive it home in dominant fashion at 16-4.

The fighting continued on Nuke, and the map-pickers of Na’Vi got off to a crucial 4-0 lead on the T-side. It was such an important lead for the CIS-squad because when the Danes were able to get full rifles and utility, they put on a show. Eight rounds in a row put them in a very comfortable position, and it was evident that they were feeling more free and confident in their play. Na’Vi were able to snag two rounds towards the end, and the halftime score was 9-6

Astralis continued their beautiful showing in the second half after having lost yet another pistol round. Quickly they found map point at 15-9, but surprisingly “boombl4” and co. were able to bring it all the way back to overtime point. After five squandered map points, including three bomb plants, the Danes were finally able to seal the game at 16-14 and push the Bo3 to map three.

The deciding map of the series was Inferno, and after winning the knife round Astralis chose to start on the CT-side.

The Danes, brimming with confidence after taking away their opponents’ map pick, went on a game-changing 8-0 run to start the map. Na’Vi went on a mini streak of their own, but with several members struggling weren’t able to make too big of a dent in the Astralis stronghold, and the score at halftime read 11-4.

After switching sides Na’Vi did to Astralis, what was done to them, and went on an almost as long winstreak, and after nine rounds the game was tied at 12-12. Astralis struggled majorly to find rounds on their T-side, which has been a recurring theme for the Danes, and Na’Vi won Inferno at 16-13.

Astralis - Na'Vi 1-2 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group D)

4-16 (Ancient) | {cflag:RU} electroNic - 1.80 Rating / 20-8 K-D / 124.8 ADR

16-14 (Nuke) | {cflag:DK} blameF - 1.50 Rating / 32-18 K-D / 106.0 ADR

13-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:UA} s1mple - 1.62 Rating / 29-15 K-D / 106.9 ADR

MVP: {cflag:UA} Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev - 1.58 Rating / 81-39 K-D / 96.0 ADR

s1mple

electronic

Natus Vincere

After yesterday’s tough loss against their countrymen from Heroic, Astralis managed to retaliate this Friday by defeating AGO 2-0. Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and his men a fierce AGO side, that pushed Astralis to the edge on both Mirage and Nuke.

It was Astralis who commenced the match the best as they presented a solid CT defence on Mirage, leaving minimal chances for the Polish underdogs. A strong performance by the newcomer Farlig and the strong rifler in blameF was enough for Astralis to a close 16-13 win.

On Astralis’ map pick of Nuke, the balanced shifted completely. Now it was AGO controlling the server through a strong start on the CT, where the Polish youngsters managed to go up 7-2. However, AGO couldn’t maintain momentum and the lead for long as Astralis began to wake up on the second map. In the end, Astralis proved too strong for AGO, concluding the series with a 16-9 win.

Astralis – AGO 2-0 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group D)

16-13 (Mirage) | {cflag:DK} blameF – 1.49 Rating / 29-17 K-D / 97.2 ADR

16-19 (Nuke) | {cflag:DK} k0nfig – 1.84 Rating / 31-14 K-D / 124,7 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} Benjamin “blameF” Bremer – 1.55 Rating / 52-30 K-D / 98.6 ADR

The last series of the day at ESL Pro League Season 15 was between Astralis and the North Americans from Evil Geniuses. The matchup marked the debut for Astralis’ new AWPer Asger “Farlig” Jensen, who joined the Danish powerhouse in February this year.

The viewers of the match should not wait long to get some entertainment from the two squads. In the very first round of play, Astralis’ Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke tiptoed his way behind Evil Geniuses’ lines, getting this amusing ninja defuse on the A side.

Watch the sneaky play and EG’s reaction in the video below.

It was like k0nfig’s ninja defuse had crushed the North Americans and their confidence entirely, as Astralis went up 11-4 on EG’s map pick. After the switch, Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and his men got things done through a solid T side, winning the first map 16-9.

Astralis concluded the series on Overpass, where they again managed to keep EG short of double digits by handing them a confident 16-8 loss. That means Astralis will join NAVI and their countrymen from Heroic at the top of Group D.  

Astralis – Evil Geniuses 2-0 | ESL Pro League Season 15 (Group D)

16-9 (Vertigo) | {cflag:DK} gla1ve – 1.50 Rating / 26-17 K-D / 105.7 ADR

16-8 (Overpass) | {cflag:DK} k0nfig – 1.97 Rating / 29-15 K-D / 119.9 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} Kristian ”k0nfig” Wienecke – 1.64 Rating / 49-32 K-D / 106.4 ADR

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"teams/astralis/Farlig_imhapn","originalWidth":5472,"originalHeight":3648,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit. Astralis"}]

Farlig is off to a great start wearing the famous black and red jersey

There are innumerable ways a Counter-Strike can start. However, the way Astralis vs Evil Geniuses kicked off is, without doubt, one of the more unique beginnings. 

The following clip does not need more introduction - just enjoy Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke tiptoe his way to the bomb (Watch it with EG's voice comms in bottom of the article)

At IEM Katowice we get to listen in to the communication in the Play-in match against BIG.

Here the Danes ended up winning 2-1. Despite the importance of the match, there is definitely a more loose tone than earlier with Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke and Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander in the driver's seat.

Astralis have since then made another roster move bringing in Asger "farlig" Jensen in Philip "Lucky" Ewald's place. There is three weeks until the next match for Astralis in Group D at ESL Pro League in Germany.

G2 is ready for the playoffs at Spodek Arena next week after defeating Astralis 2-1 in the lower bracket final.

The match started on Ancient, where Astralis managed to best G2. It was a game of "who makes the most out of their CT sides", which the Danes did best. A revitalized Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke dropped 30 kills to underline his resurgence from his two-month slump.

A 16-12 win for Astralis gave hope for a brawl in the remainder of the match, but after Ancient was done, the match shifted gear.

On both Dust2 and Inferno, it was one-way traffic with the incredible Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač in the driver's seat. The Bosnian simply destroyed Astralis throughout the match with opening kills, multi-kill rounds, and overall just an insane impact, that left the Danish roster without a chance. NiKo ended all three maps with a +100 ADR!

On Inferno, it got really bad for Astralis, who lost the morale and spirit after being annihilated 14-1 in the first half. The Danes are out of IEM Katowice after their worst appearance at the event ending their continuous playoff run since 2016.

G2 will face Virtus.pro in the Quarter-Final on Friday at IEM Katowice.

16-12 (Ancient) | {cflag:DK} k0nfig – 1.56 Rating / 30-18 K-D / 101.7 ADR

5-16 (Dust2) | {cflag:BA} NiKo - 1.87 Rating / 24-13 K-D / 113.8 ADR

1-16 (Inferno) | {cflag:BA} NiKo - 1.89 Rating / 19-6 K-D / 117.1 ADR

MVP: {cflag:BA} Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač - 1.69 Rating / 72-40 K-D / 111.9 ADR

NiKo

G2 Esports

After the opening round defeat to FURIA, the pressure was on the Danes to perform. In their first match in the lower bracket against ENCE, the former number one team in the world again struggled. Despite making an excellent comeback on the first map of Mirage, it still ended with a defeat in overtime. The AWP of Olek 'hades' Miskiewicz gave the Danes big problems throughout the map, where the Polish sniper managed to make 26 kills with the AWP in comparison to Philip "Lucky" Ewald's ten.

Astralis picked Overpass as the next map to visit. A fine T side gave them a small 8-7 lead. In a nailbiter of a second half, it was Benjamin "blameF" Bremer, who stepped up big time for the Danes. The Astralis strongman turned the match in favor of the Danes with ten rounds of 2+ kills! Astralis won 16-12 on Overpass.

Ancient was left as the decider. Seen from the outside, that was an advantage for Astralis with ENCE already having lost twice on the map at this event. On their CT side, Astralis managed to get a good headstart winning 9-6 before the second half. Here it was all tied at 11-11 giving the match the finish it deserved. 

But here Astralis finally showed some of the old tenacity, that the team has been known for. The Danes won 16-13 on Ancient and are now ready to play the loser of FaZe vs Fnatic in the next round in the lower bracket, while ENCE is out.

k0nfig

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