Astralis eliminate FaZe to secure semi-final spot in London

In the last quarter-final of the FACEIT Major, Astralis beat FaZe on Mirage (16-14) and Inferno (16-12) to move on to the semis, where they will go up against Liquid.

Action kicked off on Mirage, where FaZe won the first pistol round on the attacking side, with Ladislav "⁠GuardiaN⁠" Kovács killing Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth as the Dane only needed a few more seconds to complete the defuse.

The European mixture won the following two anti-ecos, but Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen became the hero for his team in the fourth round, as the 25-year-old won a 1v2 in a nail-biting post-plant situation. Astralis also took the next pair of rounds to tie things up 3-3, and from there started playing aggressively on the CT side to pull ahead, eventually taking nine in a row to reach a 9-3 lead.

Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač and co. won the next to add a fourth to their tally, but Astralis convincingly took the next pair to obtain a comfortable 11-4 lead at halftime.

FaZe almost defused the bomb in the second pistol round, but Astralis managed to deny it on the back of a quad kill from Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif. With their backs against the wall, Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and co. then mounted a comeback, as they won seven in a row on the back of great play from the veteran Dane (12-11).

Astralis eventually reached map point and almost won it, as dupreeh killed four and nearly managed a 1v4 ace, but Olof "⁠olofmeister⁠" Kajbjer took him down and defused the bomb to put FaZe at a two-round deficit. The European superteam won one more, but Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander's troops finally sealed the deal in the 30th round to win Mirage 16-14.

The second map in the last quarter-final was Inferno, which saw FaZe win the pistol round as well as the following single anti-eco. Astralis bought up in the third round to take it, but NiKo and his men managed the next pair to lead 5-1. The European mixture looked great on the defensive, eventually reaching a 10-3 lead. Astralis would pull themselves back a little before halftime, as Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and co. won two more to reach five rounds at the switch.

Now on the CT-side, Astralis won the second pistol round partly thanks to an unlikely fadeaway double kill with the CZ-75 from gla1ve. FaZe nearly won the next, but in true Xyp9x fashion, the 23-year-old clutched a 1v2 post-plant situation to put his team on 7 rounds.

The Danes looked locked in on the defense, as they won seven more in a row to make it to 14 before eventually closing out Inferno 16-12 and the series 2-0.