The $1,000,000 tournament in Saudi Arabia this summer will have seven of the current top 10 teams participating in the so-called Esports World Cup 2024 during this summer.

FaZe, NAVI, MOUZ, Spirit, G2, Vitality, and Virtus.pro are the top teams that will be among the favorites to scoop the title as World Cup winners.

Complexity and FURIA are also qualified via their rankings in North and South America, while the remaining six teams were found this weekend through regional qualifiers.

TheMongolz, FlyQuest, MIBR, M80, JijieHao, and Sashi qualified for the tournament with M80 and Sashi being the most surprising teams to find their way through. M80 defeated Team Liquid in the final of the North American qualifier with a solid 2-0 victory. Another disappointing result from Casper 'cadiaN' Møller and his men.

Sashi defeated Eternal Fire in the European closed qualifier winning 2-1. On Overpass Casper 'Cabbi' Jensen drove the Danes to a crushing 13-4 win with an insane 2.23 rating, where the Danish rifler averaged 153.4 in damage per round. The two former Astralis players, Philip "Lucky" Ewald and Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen are also part of the Sashi lineup, which is coached by the controversial figure Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen. 

The Esports World Cup 2024 CS2 tournament will be played from July 17th to July 21st in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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Lucky

MistR

A new CS:GO roster has been formed in the Danish scene, with the newly-founded organization Espionage entering Counter-Strike.

Starring the lineup is the former Astralis AWPer Phillip “Lucky” Ewald, who ended up having a 10-month stint on the Danish super team before re-joining Tricked in June last year.

Espionage will consist of two additional ex-Tricked players in Oliver "⁠kwezz⁠" Rasmussen and Oliver "⁠IceBerg⁠" Berg, as they put their sights towards the upcoming release of the much-awaited Counter-Strike 2.

-The focal point for the organization will be CS:GO and the upcoming title CS2, as so, we are happy to announce the players that will represent us in the coming seasons, Espionage state in a press release.

{cflag:DK} Oliver "⁠kwezz⁠" Rasmussen

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It could have been a huge Sunday for the Danish Organization Tricked.

At 13.00 CET, the Danes started the day playing a bo5 Grand Final at the Epic GOCL Season 2 against 500 from Bulgaria. Their opponents had the upperhand with a 1-0 map advantage before going into the match. Tricked came out strong winning the first two maps. On their own map pick of Overpass, the Danes had the opportunity to seal the tournament win, but on their CT side everything fell apart. The Danes lost 16-9 and were now 2-2 in maps in the Grand Final. 

At this point, the match had been 3½ hours long, which was a problem for Tricked. The Danes were set to face Astralis at the CCT North Europe Series 2 at 16.30 CET. A match that seemingly could not be postponed led Tricked to withdraw from the Grand Final. They took home $12.500 for second, while 500 could enjoy winning $25.000 for the first place.

Tricked then went on to lose against Astralis after being dominated on their own map pick of Nuke.

A sad Sunday for Tricked. Luckily there is already a new tournament starting today...

Tricked esport

Astralis

Astralis have been a part and competed at every single Major championship since its birth back in 2016, winning four titles on their way. However, that streak might end sooner rather than later with the Danes currently fighting an uphill battle in the attempt to secure a ticket for the upcoming Rio Major.

But if you ask Janko "YNk" Paunović, CS:GO analyst and expert, he believes missing out on the Major would actually be the best possible outcome for Astralis.

- I think the best thing that could happen to Astralis is not making it to the Major. Then you just blow up the roster. You keep blameF, you keep gla1ve, and then you get device and potentially staehr and zyphon from Sprout. There’s a roster for you, YNk said on the desk before Astralis’ match against Eternal Fire.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"teams/ninjas in pyjamas /Device_NIP_ov3y5q","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Ninjas in Pyjamas","alt":"device, dev1ce, CSGO, NIP, Denmark, Ninja in Pyjamas"}]

device is rumoured to join Astralis with the transfer price having been agreed reportedly

YNk clearly doesn’t believe in the current Astralis lineup, saying the problems already started right after they signed Benjamin “blameF” Bremer and Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke in a blockbuster transfer in November last year.

Following that Asger “farlig” Jensen also arrived replacing Phillip “Lucky” Ewald on the AWP.

- There have been issues with this roster ever since they added k0nfig and blameF, with the role overlap with gla1ve, which we have talked about time after time, YNk stated on the desk. I think it would be a great sort of excuse for them to start fresh - give the players some rest, to reset mentally. It has been a very draining process with someone like gla1ve and xyp9x who have won four Majors and been a part of the best team in the world for a couple of years. Now they can’t even make the Major.

You can watch the entire desk segment about Astralis in the video below. 

Astralis began their European RMR campaign at IEM Road to Rio yesterday, where they are hoping to secure a prestigious ticket to the Rio Major later this month. The Danes are currently on a 1-1 record after beating Eternal Fire today and losing to Ninjas in Pyjamas on Tuesday. They will play their next matchup tomorrow.

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device

Zyphon

Staehr

Xyp9x

blameF

Farlig

k0nfig

gla1ve

With the transfer of both Nico "nicoodoz" Tamjid and Fredrik "roeJ" Jørgensen to Fnatic, the Danish team is looking to completely rebuild their roster once again.

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But maybe this is not a bad time at all to do it. There have probably never been so many available Danes on the bench or on the free agent's list as now. Let's take a look at some of the different ways, the roster could look.

Why not give some of the old guys a new chance? We've seen karrigan, Imperial, and lately Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski perform at a very high level despite their age. The biggest reason why this will probably never happen is the wage. Most of the players would expect to be paid quite a bit more than the Copenhagen Flames are capable of paying. And then they would also have to pay NIP to secure the service of device. Yeah, this will not happen...

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"teams/ninjas in pyjamas /Device_NIP_1_nvt3n8","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Ninjas in Pyjamas","alt":"device, dev1ce, NIP, Ninjas in Pyjamas, CSGO"}]

Five players that have all been on top-tier teams before, but who would all benefit from taking a step down to kickstart their careers again. This could be a very interesting team with some strong MAD Lions vibes. The biggest problem here is, who should be the IGL?

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/kjaerbye_lnts8q","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: StarLadder Igor Bezborodov"}]

While Copenhagen Flames have stated, that they are looking for a new home for the three remaining players, we could easily see them continue on the team. Frederik "Fessor" Sørensen is rumored to be leaving Astralis Talent, while Philip "Lucky" Ewald's contract with Astralis ended mid-May.

Have we missed anyone? Give us our guess on Twitter!

HooXi

Jabbi

Fessor

Copenhagen Flames

Astralis struggled heavily after losing their star AWP'er of "dev1ce". After about three months the Danish powerhouse picked up the Tricked talent Philip "Lucky" Ewald to step in as the team's main AWP'er. But Astralis still struggled to find good performances, and "Lucky" was even taken off the role as the main AWP'er. After six months 19-year-old Ewald was benched and replacing him was Asger "Farlig" Jensen who was a more proven entity.

Since the addition of "Farlig", the results of Astralis have been more steady, and they are slowly trending upwards again.

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We asked Niels Christian "NaToSaphiX" Sillassen to look through demos and give his takes on the two Danish AWP'ers. In the video seen below, the Danish streamer demonstrates the difference in playstyle, decision-making, mechanical ability, and much more. He also goes into depth about how they play within the Astralis system, and what they have each brought to the squad.

NaToSaphiX

Phillip “Lucky” Ewald’s days at Astralis looks to be numbered with his contract running out here in mid-May, the 19-year-old reveals on Twitter. This will tie a knot on Lucky’s 9-months tenure with the Danish heavy hitters after joining the team from Tricked back in August 2021.

- I have been allowed to search for new opportunities by Astralis as my contract ends in mid-may.

- I have learned so much at my time in Astralis and I can't wait to put it in great use somewhere else. I have been missing playing and I am more motivated than ever to get back to the top and play some good counter-strike again and show what I am really capable of, I am not even close to done yet, Lucky wrote in a [link:{"url":"https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1ss1a47","isNewTab":true,"text":"TwitLonger"}].

In February this year, Astralis decided to bench Lucky after a strugglesome period for the team. The replacement ended up being his countryman and former FunPlus Phoenix AWPer Asger "Farlig" Jensen.

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That’s the number of days since Astralis’ last tournament victory. After taking home the trophy at IEM Global Challenge back in December 2020, the Danes haven’t achieved anything near what they did in their glory days.

The renowned CS:GO analyst and expert, Jacob ”Pimp” Winneche, has also expressed some concern on Astralis’ current roster and direction in a recent episode of “Pimp Talks” on his YouTube. The former pro player pinpoints Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth and his declining individual level as one of the most worrying factors for Astralis.

- I do have more faith in Xyp9x than most people have. But I am also willing to say that unless Xyp9x plays well at the next Major or finds a way not to be a liability within Astralis for the next 2-3 months, I think he’s the next guy to get cut, Pimp said and continued to talk about potential solutions for the Danish heavy hitter.

- In terms of Danish rifling talents, there’s actually quite a lot. (…) You can definitely find someone who can replace Xyp9x. You can just buy out valde from OG if you had the money – that would be a fantastic fit for Astralis and would instantly make them title-contenders in my opinion.

Pimp also touches on the recent signing of Farlig on the AWP role as a replacement for the now-benched Lucky. You can watch the entire video down below.

Valdemar "valde" Bjørn Vangså is currently playing for OG alongside the likes of Nemanja "nexa" Isakovic and Mateusz "mantuu" Wilczewski. The 26-year-old Dane has been one of OG's best players and one of the scene's most powerful rifle players since he joined back in late-2019. However, the trophies have failed to appear for OG and valde, with Spring Sweet Spring 2 being his only title with the team. 

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Copyright_-_Helena-Kristiansson_-_pimp_qv6g2g","originalWidth":3840,"originalHeight":2160,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Helena Kristiansson ESL","alt":"CS:GO, Counter-Strike"}]

Would valde be a great fit for Astralis? - Pimp surely thinks so. 

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valde

Tuesday this week, Astralis announced the signing of the powerful sniper Asger “Farlig” Jensen. The former FunPlus Phoenix profile is set to replace Phillip “Lucky” Ewald as he was moved to the bench to make way for his three-year older countrymen.

Following the recent transfer, we got the opportunity to hear from the man himself, where we asked him about his and Astralis’ goals going forward but also the period after his benching on FPX.

Astralis is arguably one of the biggest and most famous CS:GO teams in history – What were your thoughts when they first reached out to you?

- Incredibly proud, humble and more motivated than ever.

- Everybody talks about Astralis in Denmark, it is a huge brand with a massive, professional organization and an incredible fanbase. I mean, Royal Arena was filled for BLAST and it seemed like nearly every single fan there was an Astralis fan. At the same time, it is an organization known for their performance model and support staff surrounding their players. I am incredibly excited to be an Astralis player and to get a first-hand experience of what it is like.

You haven't played any matches since October 2021 – How have you stayed in shape for CS:GO?

- I have been playing FACEIT and watching demos, when you aren't active you definitely have time to watch nearly every CSGO match being played by top teams.

On a more personal basis, how did you experience the period after FPX decided to leave the scene and transfer list you and the team?

- Well, initially nothing was happening for any of us FPX players, given that we were transfer listed right before the Major. It was a long waiting period for me before teams began expressing any interest; I can't blame FPX for benching us, we didn't deliver any results. I'm just happy to be back in business now, and with such an exciting organization and roster.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"teams/astralis/Holdet/Copyright_-_Helena-Kristiansson_-_Astralis_Dallas_win_a6yxai","originalWidth":3840,"originalHeight":2160,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: ESL |Helena Kristiansson","alt":"CSGO, Counter Strike, Astralis"}]

Farlig wants to bring Astralis back to winning trophies at the top of CS:GO

Was it tough for you to be without a team and be in this uncertainty concerning your future in CS:GO?

- Yes, seeing teams playing matches from the sidelines is frustrating. It doesn't even matter what tier matches are being played, just the fact that you, yourself, aren't playing or practicing with a team feels like a time waste, but obviously, the feeling is amplified when watching the big tournaments. Seeing Katowice in particular really sparked a feeling of wanting to be there to participate in me.

Were you confident that a top-tier team would sign you after your and FPX's performance in 2021?

- I felt it was fairly likely, but as they say: Nothing is a certainty.

What do you hope you and the Astralis team can achieve this year?

- First of all, we want to become a better version of Astralis. You can't be in this organization without ambitions to win and to be the best in the world, but the competition is strong and there is a lot of work to do, so it's all about improving each day. Personally, I want to win trophies this year, and I'm certain we can win one if we better our play incrementally every day.

What are your personal goals in CS:GO for this year after having signed with Astralis?

- I want to show that I can be a huge contributing factor towards winning within the team; I am not satisfied with the individual level I showed during my time in FPX, but in the end, it's a team game, and if I can help in making the team a better version of itself, I am happy.

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FunPlus Phoenix

Replacing one of the best players in the history of competitive Counter-Strike will never be an easy job. Phillip “Lucky” Ewald is a prime example of exactly that.

The 19-year-old was brought into Astralis’ roster last year to fill out the void from the four-time Major winner Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz, which never really became a success – neither for Lucky or Astralis.

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Yesterday, Astralis took the consequences and decided to place the former Tricked AWPer on the bench, following the signing of Asger “Farlig” Jensen. In a [link:{"url":"https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1srvda6","isNewTab":true,"text":"Twitlonger"}], Lucky reflected on the degradation.  

- It has been one hell of a ride with Astralis, it started out a bit chaotic with roster changes and two players leaving, but it has been great times and it has been tough times, but it is a ride I would not have missed even the day today.

Looking from the outside, Lucky hasn’t had the best and most ideal working conditions. The talented Dane has had to manoeuvre in switching roster as mentioned, but also in switching roles and positions, due to Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander taking up the AWPer instead of Lucky.

- I sadly never found myself or my flow in-game, which is SO annoying, cause I know I can do so much more than what I have shown. I still though, have grown and gotten so much experience both as a player and a person which I am super thankful for.

{cflag:DK} Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander 

{cflag:DK} Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth 

{cflag:DK} Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer 

{cflag:DK} Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke 

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After their worst run in history at an IEM Katowice event, Astralis has announced a change to their lineup. 

- Our head coach, Alex "Ave", has worked with the players to make it work and it has become clear what is needed on the team, and we have chosen to speed up the process by picking up a skilled, aggressive player with lots of firepower who can contribute from day 1. I am therefore glad we have reached an agreement with Asger "farlig" Jensen, who immediately joins us as a new AWP player, Director of Sports at Astralis, Kasper Hvidt.

Asger "farlig" Jensen has previously played for FunPlus Phoneix, GODSENT, and Copenhagen Flames. The Danish AWP'er was free on the market after FunPlus Phoenix discontinued their CS:GO Division in late 2021.

The benching of Philip "Lucky" Ewald comes after a difficult time for the 19-year-old sniper, who was switched around in positions on the team, and had to play with several different rosters during his seven months on the team. 

-  The change means that we have to bench Philip "Lucky" Ewald. For 7 months he has worked with himself and the team, but, unfortunately and despite all his and the team’s work, we have not been able to get the best out of him. Philip is a cool and very well-liked guy with some obvious skills we have not managed to unfold. He will stay on contract for now, and no matter what happens, I am sure we will hear more from “Lucky” in the future, Kasper Hvidt states in a press announcement.

BIG is through to the third round at BLAST Premier Spring Groups after a 2-0 victory against Astralis.

The match was highly anticipated and considered fairly even before the Germany vs Denmark battle began. But all the changed during the match.

It started on Dust2, where BIG started out strongly before Astralis managed to catch up before the break. In the second half BIG once again showed some fine Counter-Strike and defended their lead to win the map 16-13.

On to Mirage and Astralis' map pick. The Danes started on their T-side, which proved to be a catastrophe. Round after round the Danes got mowed down. BIG won 13 rounds in a row before Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer managed to win a 1vs2 clutch to give his team the first point of the map. It was a humiliation of the former number 1 in the world, who could see the entire BIG team have spectacular rounds. On the top of the scoreboard Florian 'syrsoN' Rische went completely mad with a 26-3 K-D in the first half alone!

After the break, BIG coasted home the victory to complete the humiliation and win 16-7.

Astralis can still qualify for the Spring Finals with a victory on Sunday against the loser of FaZe vs BIG.

BIG - Astralis 2-0 | BLAST Premier Spring Groups

16-13 (Dust2) | {cflag:DK} Lucky – 1.25 Rating / 22-12 K-D / 68.8 ADR

16-7 (Mirage) | {cflag:DE} syrsoN 2.31 Rating / 32-7 K-D / 144.6 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DE} Florian 'syrsoN' Rische - 1.61 Rating / 50-20 K-D / 100.4 ADR

syrsoN

Phillip “Lucky” Ewald hasn’t been a household name on the biggest stage of CS:GO for long, with the 19-year-old Dane only joining the top in August last year when he signed for Astralis. Taking over the AWP-baton from the legendary Nicolai “dev1ce Reedtz, meant that there were huge expectations on the former Tricked youngster and his shoulders.

We have had the opportunity to have a chat with the talented AWPer about his first 6-months with Astralis, the pressure of joining a tier-1 team, and why it has made him avoid social media more and more.  

- It has been a fun ride if you can say that. There has been a lot of things going on. I think in my first three months at Astralis, I played with three different rosters due to our 6-man roster and changing players, where I have played two different roles. (…) I haven’t really found my form yet. It’s a bit hard to find in a new team, especially when you get on this level. If the team play and all that stuff don’t click, it’s hard to get your own game to work out as well. When we will get our own performance to play out nice, we’ll see me play better as well.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"players/Astralis_1_pq8pjh","originalWidth":1920,"originalHeight":1080,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: PGL"}]

Lucky and Astralis at the PGL Stockholm Major back in November (Credit: PGL)

Before joining Astralis, Lucky hadn’t experienced much top-tier CS:GO playing for the lower-ranked Tricked. When asked whether he believes the pressure has involved his performance so far, Lucky said the following:

- When talking about Astralis in Counter-Strike, everyone knows what it is and has an opinion about it. Obviously, it can be a bit stressful to hear them all. I don’t think it has had a complete involvement in my play. Sometimes maybe outside the game, it can be a bit hard. (…) I’m not that much on social media anymore, as I used to.

- As I've said, when it comes to Astralis, everyone has an opinion and they like to share it with the whole world. Some opinions, you just need to have for yourself. I’m fine without seeing everyone’s opinion about me and the team.

You can watch the entire interview with Lucky, where he also talks about his personal expectations for 2022 and much more, in the video below.

We have also spoken with Lucky about the current AWP situation at Astralis, where he offers some interesting insights into the decision making behind letting Lucky pick up the big green again. You can find it right [link:{"url":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKLC8ah_XrU","isNewTab":true,"text":"here"}]. 

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After seeing OG winning the Upper Final and taking a spot in the Group B Final, we now had to find out who would win the Lower Final. It was between the world's former #1 in Astralis, and the current #1 of Na'Vi. The winner of the match would go on to fight MIBR, while the loser would be done for the day. The map choice fell upon Mirage and would have Astralis staring as the CT's and Na'Vi as the T's.

Na'Vi started out very fast with almost surprisingly explosive plays, which led them to a very speedy 6-0 lead. It looked as though this CIS-team was determined to show that their loss versus MIBR was nothing but a fluke. Astralis had to answer back with some rounds here on CT-side as their T-sides have been very lackluster, and they did exactly that. Powered by an invigorated "blameF" the Danes slowly but surely clawed their way back into the game and finished with the half with a one-round deficit, which was more than they could have hoped for after the bad start.

The Danes continued their momentum into the second half as they managed to take the first six rounds of the second half as "k0nfig" all of a sudden was smoking hot. Na'Vi was able to stop the streak for one round, but the Danes answered back hard, securing map point at 15-9. Na'Vi were able to bring it back into overtime somehow, even winning a 2v4 situation along the way. The CIS-squad now had all the momentum in the deciding moments.

Astralis came alive once again in overtime, taking the first round and making the other two incredibly close, but it was still the Na'Vi side to come out with the early OT lead. It looked as though Na'Vi was gonna secure map point at 18-16 "Xyp9x", but that's when "Xyp9x" and "Lucky" won a 2v4 post-plant to even the scores. The next round was almost a repeat as Na'Vi had safely planted the bomb and gotten into after-plant positions, and let it slip away as "Xyp9x" performed a "ninja defuse" to win the round. The Danes took the last round in convincing style and therefore took the map victory at 19-17.

Astralis fight on for a spot in the Group B Final vs. MIBR, while Na'Vi is done for the day.

Na'Vi – Astralis (0-1) | BLAST Premier Spring Groups 2022

blameF {cflag:DK} – 1.23 Rating / 33-24 K-D / 96.2 ADR

Natus Vincere

At Funspark Ulti Finals 2021 Astralis avoided an early elimination by beating Fnatic 2-1. The victory was found after a thriller ending on Inferno

The match started on Mirage, where it was an unusual duo that broke Fnatic. In-game leader Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander and the reborn AWP’er Philip "Lucky" Ewald gave the English/Swedish team a hard time. While Lucky made good use of his Sniper Rifle with 14 kills, Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander was on his own personal vendetta after a tough game yesterday. The Danish in-game leader created his own little Brexit on Mirage going 16-3 against Fnatic’s three Englishmen on the server.

Astralis won Mirage 16-2 and headed on to their own map pick on Nuke for the second map.

Here Fnatic finally came to life. On their CT-side they overcame a strong Astralis start to find a 9-6 lead at the break. In the second half it looked like for a moment, that the Danes would make a comeback. In the end Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin stepped up and made some important kills to save Fnatic and force the match to Inferno.

In a dramatic last map, Astralis managed to win the match after overtime. There were several rounds in the end of the match that could have gone both ways. In a thriller ending it was Lucky with superb ending to the match that sealed the deal for the Danes.

The victory for Astralis sets them up with a match against either Gambit or Entropiq in the lower semi-finals, while Fnatic is out of the tournament. 

Fnatic - Astralis (1-2) | Funspark ULTI Finals

2-16 (Mirage) | {cflag:DK} gla1ve – 1.94 Rating / 23-8 K-D / 123.2 ADR

16-13 (Nuke) | {cflag:SE} Brollan – 1.33 Rating / 23-14 K-D / 85.4 ADR

16-19 (Inferno) | {cflag:DK} gla1ve – 1.36 Rating / 24-10 K-D / 112.5 ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander – 1.29 Rating / 63-51 K-D / 98.5 ADR

Brollan

Fnatic

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The next matchup will be between Astralis and the underdogs from K23. The Bo3 opening round match is set to go live at 15:00 (CET).

Who will make their big breakthrough in 2022? Only time will tell, but we tried to find out, who the professional CS:GO players are keeping an eye on next year.

While Valerii "b1t" Vakhovskyi made his big entrance to the scene in 2021, it will be interesting to see, who will do it this year. Obviously, there is a lot of hype surrounding the new G2 player, Ilya "m0NESY" Osipov, who is also mentioned multiple times in this video. The 16-year-old Russian has been on everyone's radar after his impressive performances in the WePlay Academy League. 

m0NESY

Kvem

afroo

w0nderfu1

mezii

smooya

DBL PONEY

If you had the chance to change anything you wanted in CS:GO, what would it be?

In this mini-series, we asked the professional CS:GO players, what they would like to change if they were the big boss of Valve. In the second episode, you can hear the answers from the three Danes, René "TeSeS" Madsen, Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth, and Philip "Lucky" Ewald.

Stay tuned on Pley.gg in the next few days for more episodes.

TeSeS

Heroic

Philip "Lucky" Ewald has experienced a lot in his short time at Astralis. Since joining in August, the Dane has played with several different lineups, changed coach, and recently also changed his role from being an AWP'er to a rifler on the team.

- It has been very fun, and I have learned a lot of things. But it has also been a bit chaotic with all the things happening with roster changes and stuff. Overall I have learned so much, and I am happy for the opportunity still. We are finally finding our fitting. Now we are this team, and not a six-man roster anymore. We are still trying to figure out our roles, but now we know that we are these players and this coach, so now the real grind has begun.

BLAST Premier World Finals will be the third tournament for the new Astralis lineup, who are set to face Team Vitality in the opening round.

- This tournament is the first tournament, where we have had some real practice time, so this tournament is going to show us a lot of things, where we have to put in work, and what is working and what is not.

After the new lineup was assembled, it quickly became evident, that Philip "Lucky" Ewald's role on Astralis had changed. From being the AWP'er on the team, the 19-year-old Dane now had to fit into a new role as a rifler, while in-game leader Lukas "

" Rossander has taken over the role as the primary sniper on the team.

- It is of course different. I have been playing the AWP role for several years now, so it is of course something, I have to adapt to. But usually, I adapt pretty decently to what I am being told to do and try. And it was something, that I wasn't really against, so it is fine, I am just trying to learn.

When asked about the chance of him returning to the AWP role, the answer is a little vague from the Dane, who don't see it coming in the near future.

- There is always the chance. Right now maybe not, but maybe in the future. Never say never.

Meanwhile, the young Astralis player will probably have to get used to people talking about his new role at the team. 

- There is a lot of people talking, and they have their own opinions and stuff. But at Astralis we make our own decisions, and we don't care about what the experts say. We do what we think is best for us and then we will see if it works, and usually, it works pretty good in Astralis. So I don't really listen to it.

Lucky and Astralis start their run at BLAST Premier World Finals on Wednesday at 16.30 (CET), when they face Team Vitality.

Watch the full interview with Lucky in the video below.

The stakes are a place in the Consolidation Final versus Team Vitality, the match is Astralis vs. Heroic, it's map #1, and the map is Mirage. It has been a hard-fought game that has now gone into overtime. Astralis has managed to win the first three rounds of overtime and now they just have to win one more round.

"Xyp9x" and "Lucky" find themselves in a 2v2 situation around the B-site. Lucky kills "refrezh" and plants the bomb. Now with only one enemy left "Lucky" decides to check apartments, and the rest is history.

[twitchClip:blastpremier/clip/SlickCrepuscularJuiceRuleFive-ZRXjLml3WcnLRKaw]

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Lucky

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