Many in the CS:GO world woke up to quite a shocking article this Tuesday morning: 

Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke is set to be removed from Astralis’ CS:GO roster after having been involved in a fist fight in Malta during ESL Pro League Season 16 two weeks ago.

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Now, roughly one hour after the publication of the article, the man himself has decided to comment on the story, where he heavily criticizes the media outlet. However, he doesn’t completely dismiss the rumors in the Twitter post.  

- Jaxon contacted me with rumors that are mostly BS [bullshit], and I asked them to respect it as private. Ofc they went ahead anyway and even added to the story, so I asked them not to contact me again. It hurts like hell, but I hope to get green light from the doctor so I can get back soon!

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k0nfig

Astralis

Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke, or more like the absence of him, has been the talk of the town the last seven days with the Astralis rifler being ruled out from the RMR due to an ankle injury. However today the story has taken a completely new turn.

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According to [link:{"url":"https://www.jaxon.gg/sources-astralis-set-to-remove-k0nfig-after-fist-fight-in-malta/","isNewTab":true,"text":"Jaxon"}], Astralis is set to cut k0nfig from their CS:GO roster due to 25-year-old Dane having been involved in a fist fight two weeks ago at ESL Pro League Season 16 in Malta, which multiple sources have confirmed to the media outlet. 

A couple of days after Astralis' announced the injury of k0nfig, he himself posted a Tweet saying he was "sorry and feeling guilty". 

- I will use this unlucky period to restitute, find myself and come back with a stronger mindset and willpower. I hate how this affects my teammates and everybody at Astralis. I feel guilty and I am sorry, but I know you will cope. And win! Good luck. My heart is with you, k0nfig wrote.

Astralis did not wish to comment on the situation when asked by Pley. 

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The news of the injury for Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke hit hard in the Danish camp before the RMR tournament for IEM Rio starts next month. 

The chances of qualifying for the Rio Major looked difficult even before the injury, while the absence of Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke could seal the deal of Astralis not making it to the Major. An almost unfathomable thought. Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen was registered as a substitution before the injury, and now the 18-year-old Astralis Talent player will have to deliver on the big stage to fill out the shoes of k0nfig. But maybe Astralis has been hit by a little luck after all?  Our CS:GO analyst, Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen has looked at the demos of MistR, and found that he actually played a lot like k0nfig.

You can see it for yourselves in the video below.

Astralis face NIP in the first round of the RMR tournament next month.

MistR

Astralis Talent

The Danish powerhouse is facing a massive setback ahead of the important IEM Rio Major 2022: European RMR A, as their entry fragger in Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke has suffered a “complicated ankle fracture”, which will keep him out of action. That means that gla1ve’s men will fight at the event with one of their academy players instead, Mikkel “MistR” Thomsen, who has been submitted as Astralis’ substitute ahead of the roster deadline for the tournament.

For the 25-year-old Dane, this is not the first time in his CS:GO career that he’s unable to compete due to sudden accidents. About a year ago, k0nfig missed out at the ESL Pro League Season 14 event, with Complexity Gaming, as he suffered an accident that resulted in him breaking and fracturing his right wrist.

On September 21, k0nfig went to Twitter where he gave a message to his teammates and the rest of Astralis.

Astralis will compete against the likes of G2, FaZe, Cloud9, and Ninjas in Pyjamas from October 4-9 in the RMR event. Out of 16 teams, only eight will advance to IEM Rio.

Yesterday Astralis revealed that Kristian “k0nfing” Wieneke is set to miss the upcoming Major qualifier on Malta due to a “complicated ankle fracture”. Tough news for the Danish side who already have struggled massively after the summer break.

Following Monday’s news, some people in the community questioned why k0nfig couldn’t compete “just because” of an ankle injury. But that is something, the Astralis rifler quickly explained on his Twitter saying he needs to undergo an ankle operation.

- Great. Surgery needed and the doctors tell me I won't be able to sit upright for long periods of time the next 10-14 days. GL [Good luck] MistR, k0nfig wrote on Twitter.

The Regional Major Ranking tournament for the RIO is set to begin in 14 days with the European edition being divided into two groups. Astralis is placed in Group A alongside strong teams like Cloud9, NIP, Fnatic, and the world leaders from FaZe.

If Astralis has hope of qualifying for the Major, they need to place within the Top 8 out of the 16 attending teams. Something, which can be extremely tough now when they are forced to play with their academy player Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen instead of k0nfig.

Astralis’ first match is against NIP and will be played on October 4th.

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Astralis will have to do without Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke at the upcoming IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR due to the Danish rifler having suffered a “complicated ankle fracture”, Astralis announced on Twitter. The #4 team will feature Astralis Talent Mikkel “MistR” Thomsen instead.

The news comes at the worst possible time for Astralis with the Major qualifier being just around the corner. The Malta-based tournament works as the gateway to the Rio Major in November and this time the competition looks harder and more competitive than ever. Therefore, playing with a substitute without any Tier-1 or 2 experience in MistR looks to be an extremely tough task for Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander and company. 

Especially when you take their recent results from the RMR qualifiers, BLAST Fall Groups and most recently at ESL Pro League Season 16. 

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It's not the first time k0nfig has been forced to take a break from competitive play due to a physical injury. Back in 2021, the former Complexity rifler broke his wrist which kept him away from the server for several weeks.

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{cflag:DK} Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander 

{cflag:DK} Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth 

{cflag:DK} Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer 

{cflag:DK} Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke (Injury reserve)

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Despite losing their opening game against Ninjas in Pyjamas, Astralis won Group A at BLAST Fall Groups after three straight victories.

On Overpass the two Astralis stars Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke and Benjamin "blameF" Bremer were struggling to make an impact for the Danes, but against OG and then NIP again in the lower bracket, the two former Complexity players showed their worth.

Meanwhile, the new Vitality roster had gotten off to an excellent start beating both OG and NIP before the Group Final against Astralis.

Mathieu "ZywOo" Herbaut had been on fire during the first two matches, but in the Group Final, it was Magisk and dupreeh who had to carry the European team. On Mirage the match went all the way into overtime before Astralis finally managed to complete the comeback from their loss in the opening round to win Group A and qualify for round 3 of the playoffs.

All four teams can still reach the Fall Finals next week.

blameF

Ninjas in Pyjamas

Team Vitality

Unlike football or any other big sports, e-sports have many events and tournaments throughout the year. Despite the many tournaments and events, however, some are simply just more important than others. Whether it be for money reasons or the prestige that comes with winning a given event, some events mean more than others. 

But what means the most for the professional players in the Counter-Strike scene? Is it a prestigious Major event? Or is it perhaps winning the Intel Grand Slam and securing a lot of victories as well as money along the way? HLTV asked various different pros what they think is the more important event to win. 

When asked whether the Intel Grand Slam or the Major was more important, the Danish star player of Astralis "k0nfig" answered the following: 

To hear what other pros find more important, the Intel Grand Slam or a Major victory, you can watch the series of interviews posted down below: 

Astralis succeeded in their opening match of IEM Cologne as they brought FURIA to their knees after two maps where they showed what they are capable of on the offense.

Astralis kicked off the series with an exciting win on their map pick of Nuke. The Danes are once again looking comfortable on what used to be their "signature map", as they extend their Nuke winstreak to six with a 16-8 victory over the Brazilians. The Danes started with great success on the T side, the side that they have struggled with recently. 'gla1ve' and co. grabbed a 10-5 halftime lead after tactically and individually outplaying FURIA. From there on out it was smooth sailing as 'k0nfig' continued his great form, and Astralis sealed the deal at 16-8.

The former Complexity duo of 'blameF' and 'k0nfig' shined bright on the second map of Mirage. Astralis delivered an alright defensive half that netted them eight rounds, so once again it was their offense that saved them. The Danes found map point at 15-8, but still almost managed to let the win slip away as FURIA went on a hot streak. The experienced IGL, 'gla1ve', managed to secure the win with a great 1v2 clutch, and the Danes could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

8-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:DK} k0nfig - 1.52 Rating / 26-15 K-D / 97.9 ADR

13-16 (Mirage) | {cflag:DK} k0nfig - 1.57 Rating / 28-18 K-D / 95.2 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke - 1.52 Rating / 54-33 K-D / 96.4 ADR

FURIA

Astralis made it out of the Play-in stage at IEM Cologne with an excellent 2-1 victory against the hometown heroes from BIG.

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During the first of Nuke, Astralis in-game leader Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander had a bit of a nightmare in the first half going 0-0-14 on the scoreboard before finally making an impact in the match with his game-defining 1vs3 clutch in round 15.

The Astralis in-game leader could see his two teammates Asger "farlig" Jensen and Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke perform at a good level against BIG, while also Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth has shown signs of improvements lately. Speaking of his own individual level, the four-time Major winner explains how he is taking a more aggressive role on the team, which can be tough on his personal stats.

You can see the full interview with gla1ve in the video below.

Astralis will face FURIA in the opening round of IEM Cologne.

gla1ve

Xyp9x

Farlig

It was an all-or-nothing matchup when BIG faced Astralis in the IEM Cologne play-in. After three maps, BIG was unfortunately denied the chance to play in front of the home crowd

From the first whistle, the recently-struggling k0nfig was popping off on Astralis' map pick of Nuke. Unfortunately, it did not translate to many T-side rounds as 'k1to', and especially 'Krimbo', were both showing up magnificently on the defense, and secured eleven rounds for their team before the break.

Down by seven rounds, Astralis looked done and dusted, but as 'Farlig' stepped up to 'k0nfig's level, the Danes started winning a lot of rounds. In fact, they dominated so hard on the defense that they made the miracle comeback happen, and snatched away the victory right in front of the noses of BIG.

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The challenge now for Astralis was to overcome BIG on their favorite map of Dust2. The Danes started the map decently with a 9-6 half on the defense where 'gla1ve' and 'blameF', who were both having a somewhat off-game on Nuke, both had a massive impact in the fragging department.

Astralis found themselves in a nice position at 13-9 halfway through the second half. It was at this point that BIG, determined to not get knocked out of the tournament, showed why they are so feared on Dust2. 'syrsoN' who had not had much impact on the map finally showed up and fueled his team to a phenomenal seven-round streak that saw the Germans secure their map.

On the third and final map of Overpass, it was Astralis that were happiest after fifteen rounds. The Danes had delivered a promising 9-6 offensive half, and 'blameF' was once again looking like the Top10 player that he has been so far this year.

After the great first half from the Danes, they started the second one a bit wonky. It looked like BIG was going to take over the map as they tied the score at 11-11, but from here on out the Danes denied everything the Germans through at them and took the victory at 16-11.

With the win, Astralis qualify for the main stage of IEM Cologne and deny BIG the opportunity to play in front of the home crowd.

14-16 (Nuke) | {cflag:DK} k0nfig - 1.42 Rating / 29-22 K-D / 112.5 ADR

16-13 (Dust2) | {cflag:DE} k1to - 1.18 Rating / 22-20 K-D / 77.6 ADR

11-16 (Overpass) | {cflag:DK} blameF - 1.50 Rating / 24-18 K-D / 106.2 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke - 1.25 Rating / 74-59 K-D / 88.1 ADR

Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke has been struggling with his form lately but against Complexity the Danish rifler finally made some impact for Astralis, who went on to win the match 2-0.

- It was definitely a good win for me individually. I think that I am getting a little bit back on track now. I have had a rough individual period at the moment, so I need some confidence to build up to the bigger games.  

The former Complexity player joined Astralis at the end of last year and has since then had some big swings in his performances for the team. While still searching for more consistency, the 25-year-old Dane is eager to show, that he belongs on the legendary Astralis team.

- I wanna prove to everyone that I deserve to be here, and I also wanna prove it to myself. 

You can see the full interview down below.

The first team in the Grand final at Pinnacle Cup Championship is ready. A strong team performance from the Danish roster of Astralis secured a spot after their victory against BIG 2-0. We talked with "k0nfig" right after Astralis qualified for the Grand Final at Pinnacle Cup Championship.

"k0nfig" and his teammates of Astralis were staring down a 0-6 deficit on the T side of Ancient, and on Dust 2, Astralis again struggled to find footing early as they fell 0-7 to the Germans' effective offense. But despite that, they managed to secure the victory anyway. 

Astralis set to brawl against Heroic or BIG on Saturday at 20:00 (CET) in the Grand Final. To hear more about what "k0nfig" has to say just after the victory, you can watch the exclusive interview down below:

[youtube:www.youtube.com/watch?v=PukXRMDyxXQ&ab_channel=Pley]

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.

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

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.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/es3tag_1_uczusa","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2731,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Stephanie Lindgren, BLAST"}]

'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.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/k0nfig_pi3zec","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2731,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Michael Konkol, BLAST"}]

 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.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"teams/Movistar Riders/20211010_Stephanie-Lindgren_IEM-Fall-2021_Movistar_Riders_fe34ob","originalWidth":5338,"originalHeight":3003,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Stephanie Lindgren - ESL","alt":"Movistar Riders, CSGO"}]

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!

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/jabbi_kquoke","originalWidth":4096,"originalHeight":2304,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

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".

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Bad_News_Eagles_unwwhk","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

 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

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

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	15	30
Maps count	24	55

k0nfig

Player stats

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