StarSeries i-League Season 4SK and Astralis through to quarter-finals
In the last set of matches of round four, Astralis eased past Heroic 2-0 (Overpass 16-11, Nuke 16-4) and SK beat Natus Vincere 2-0 (Cobblestone 16-12, Inferno 16-7) to earn their spots in the playoffs.
SK picked Cobblestone to start off their series against Natus Vincere, but it was the latter team who established a 6-1 lead early on as CT. However, they then made a series of mistakes when hunting the only remaining player, Marcelo "coldzera" David, in chicken coop, as the superstar clutched a 1v3 to set off a long string rounds going the Brazilians' way.
Natus Vincere could only win the very last round in the half to end it at 7-8, but they soon retook the lead after Ioann "Edward" Sukhariev's triple in the second pistol round. The first gunrounds were split, before a forcebuy from SK and a split towards the A bombsite shifted the momentum back in their favor. At 14-11, Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo barely missed out on a massive 1v4 clutch as he didn't have enough time left, but the fact that he took out all of the opposing players left Natus Vincere with little money as SK cruised to a 16-12 victory.
Na`Vi once again got off to the better start on Inferno as CT, leading 3-1 after a second-round forcebuy win, but close rounds meant their economy was on the edge and things turned for the worse when SK netted the fifth round with just pistols. Once Danylo "Zeus" Teslenko's team was able to buy up again, they weren't able to capitalize on a 5v3 advantage created by Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev, as the Brazilian side got up to 6-3.
That is when a last-second A push backfired on SK as Denis "electroNic" Sharipov put up a triple. That situation repeated itself once more later in the half, with the Russian youngster grabbing a key double to run the time down, but FalleN & co. were still able to get away with a comfortable 9-6 half.
Securing the pistol round as well as the first gunround on the back of FalleN's triple on A, SK were up 13-6. Na`Vi could still buy up in the next round thanks to a bomb plant, but it was all for naught. SK powered to match point and quickly ended the match 16-7, with FalleN's scout play deciding it all.
Natus VincereK - D
+/-
ADR
KAST
Rating
35 - 40
-5
80.8
56.9%
0.98
31 - 35
-4
71.4
56.9%
0.93
28 - 36
-8
62.0
64.7%
0.83
32 - 46
-14
75.4
52.9%
0.78
21 - 35
-14
51.4
64.7%
0.71
SKK - D
+/-
ADR
KAST
Rating
42 - 20
+22
82.1
84.3%
1.46
40 - 28
+12
85.4
80.4%
1.30
39 - 31
+8
86.0
78.4%
1.26
38 - 32
+6
74.7
68.6%
1.15
33 - 36
-3
73.6
64.7%
0.96
The mostly-Danish matchup saw Astralis take an early lead on their pick, Overpass, as CT with Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander putting up four kills in the pistol round. Ruben "RUBINO" Villarroel's 1v2 in the third round then gave HEROIC their first entry and soon they picked up three more rounds. From there on, neither of the teams were able to establish a good economy as the rounds went back and forth.
Astralis secured a 8-7 lead in the half, while HEROIC came out on top of the second pistol, but more great play by gla1ve and several entry kills by Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen allowed the favorites to mount a solid offense and grab a 16-11 win on the opening map.
HEROIC picked Nuke, which underwent several big changes earlier this month, but Astralis seemed to be ready for it as they quickly racked up a big lead on the Terrorist side, in part thanks to winning the second-round forcebuy and the second gunround that broke their opponents' economy twice.
That trend continued as the first half went on, as Marco "Snappi" Pfeiffer's quad-kill on upper netted HEROIC their third round, but they couldn't string more together following Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth's 1v2 clutch on lower, followed by dupreeh's 1v1 on the same bombsite in the next round. Astralis had little trouble finishing off the first half 11-4 and with the pistol going their way as well, they clinched a playoffs spot at 16-4, 2-0.
 Astralis |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 43 - 23 | +20 | 80.8 | 83.0% | 1.43 | |
| 39 - 24 | +15 | 89.4 | 74.5% | 1.41 | |
| 35 - 24 | +11 | 81.3 | 76.6% | 1.35 | |
| 33 - 29 | +4 | 81.8 | 74.5% | 1.26 | |
| 27 - 19 | +8 | 61.8 | 85.1% | 1.17 |
  HEROIC |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 27 - 32 | -5 | 63.0 | 55.3% | 0.84 | |
| 28 - 34 | -6 | 65.7 | 61.7% | 0.81 | |
| 29 - 36 | -7 | 67.7 | 61.7% | 0.80 | |
| 19 - 36 | -17 | 48.2 | 48.9% | 0.62 | |
| 16 - 40 | -24 | 56.3 | 46.8% | 0.53 |
AstralisK - D
+/-
ADR
KAST
Rating
43 - 23
+20
80.8
83.0%
1.43
39 - 24
+15
89.4
74.5%
1.41
35 - 24
+11
81.3
76.6%
1.35
33 - 29
+4
81.8
74.5%
1.26
27 - 19
+8
61.8
85.1%
1.17
HEROICK - D
+/-
ADR
KAST
Rating
27 - 32
-5
63.0
55.3%
0.84
28 - 34
-6
65.7
61.7%
0.81
29 - 36
-7
67.7
61.7%
0.80
19 - 36
-17
48.2
48.9%
0.62
16 - 40
-24
56.3
46.8%
0.53
With only three matches remaining, here are the current standings of the Swiss stage:
 FaZe |
3-0 |
 G2 |
3-0 |
 Liquid |
3-1 |
 Astralis |
3-1 |
 SK |
3-1 |
 Renegades |
2-2 |
 Cloud9 |
2-2 |
| HellRaisers |
2-2 |
| MOUZ |
2-2 |
| HEROIC |
2-2 |
 Natus Vincere |
2-2 |
 Gambit |
1-3 |
 TYLOO |
1-3 |
 Virtus.pro |
1-3 |
 fnatic |
0-3 |
 MVP PK |
0-3 |
Keith 'NAF' Markovic
Tomáš 'oskar' Šťastný
Chris 'chrisJ' de Jong
Miikka 'suNny' Kemppi
Martin 'STYKO' Styk
Robin 'ropz' Kool
Nikola 'NiKo' Kovač
Hansel 'BnTeT' Ferdinand
Özgür 'woxic' Eker
Bence 'DeadFox' Böröcz
Issa 'ISSAA' Murad
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Never get tired
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shaak!
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exhaIe
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Brian_Furious
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Street_Shitter
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pumasiK
pastaMasta
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justice11
Six3six
AnthonyDavissss
dankooo
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MechanimaL
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