BLAST Pro Series Istanbul 2018BLAST Pro Series Istanbul group stage concluded
In the last round of matches, Ninjas in Pyjamas secured a third place finish and will pick who they want to face in the BLAST Pro Series Stand-off, while Astralis defeated MIBR to reach the grand final with a perfect record.
The game between Cloud9 and Ninjas in Pyjamas took place on Mirage, with the Swedish team having a third-place finish and a spot in the BLAST Pro Series Stand-off in their hands if they secure the win. The match was contested by both teams early on, but Ninjas in Pyjamas was looking like the better side overall, with Jonas "Lekr0" Olofsson's 1v1 clutch against Robin "flusha" Rönnquist giving the Ninjas a 9-6 lead for the half.
Doubles from Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund and Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg gave Ninjas in Pyjamas the pistol, and with that, enough momentum to take care of business on the CT. Dennis "dennis" Edman was a standout player throughout, with his multikills being key to Ninjas in Pyjamas closing out the game 16-8.
 Cloud9 |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 - 21 | -1 | 83.2 | 79.2% | 1.21 | |
| 21 - 20 | +1 | 99.4 | 70.8% | 1.15 | |
| 14 - 20 | -6 | 72.3 | 66.7% | 0.86 | |
| 13 - 21 | -8 | 62.8 | 62.5% | 0.62 | |
| 8 - 22 | -14 | 48.2 | 45.8% | 0.38 |
 Ninjas in Pyjamas |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 - 14 | +15 | 131.2 | 87.5% | 1.99 | |
| 25 - 15 | +10 | 115.3 | 79.2% | 1.62 | |
| 23 - 15 | +8 | 77.0 | 83.3% | 1.39 | |
| 19 - 19 | 0 | 82.1 | 70.8% | 1.07 | |
| 8 - 14 | -6 | 47.5 | 70.8% | 0.82 |
Space Soldiers kicked off their match against Virtus.pro on the right foot, grabbing the T pistol on Dust2 and running up a 6-0 lead shortly. Then, with the AWP in his hands, Michał "snatchie" Rudzki got three kills and brought the Poles back into the game. They managed six before the switch, but losing the second pistol as well put them in a tough situation as they were trying to catch up.
After Space Soldiers reached a 13-6 lead, Virtus.pro kicked into a higher gear and strung together four rounds in an attempt to comeback, but it wasn't enough and the Turkish side managed to grab a consolation win, beating the Poles 16-10.
 Space Soldiers |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 - 18 | +11 | 127.4 | 80.8% | 1.78 | |
| 23 - 12 | +11 | 80.9 | 76.9% | 1.48 | |
| 16 - 16 | 0 | 67.7 | 65.4% | 1.05 | |
| 15 - 17 | -2 | 72.6 | 80.8% | 1.00 | |
| 14 - 17 | -3 | 45.8 | 76.9% | 0.89 |
 Virtus.pro |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 - 17 | +4 | 90.3 | 69.2% | 1.21 | |
| 20 - 18 | +2 | 88.8 | 73.1% | 1.18 | |
| 15 - 21 | -6 | 70.3 | 69.2% | 0.86 | |
| 11 - 20 | -9 | 48.2 | 61.5% | 0.68 | |
| 13 - 21 | -8 | 59.9 | 65.4% | 0.62 |
Astralis and MIBR kicked off their grand final preview on Dust2, where Jake "Stewie2K" Yip tapped down three with the USP-S to secure the CT pistol. The Brazilian-American side went on to secure the following anti-ecos, before adding to more to their lead to make it 5-0.
The Danes took a more aggressive approach in the sixth round, which earned them their first, forcing Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo to save the Big Green. The change of pace from Astralis began to pay off as the Danes racked up five straight to take the 6-5 lead, but a massive quad-kill from Tarik "tarik" Celik leveled the game once more.
The two sides went back and forth at the tail-end of the first half, with Astralis eventually edging the 8-7 lead at halftime. The Danes continued their run into the second half as FalleN co. struggled to get past Astralis' CT side, who locked down the half winning eight in a row to secure the 16-7 map victory.
 Astralis |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 - 12 | +13 | 105.9 | 87.0% | 1.80 | |
| 24 - 11 | +13 | 98.1 | 78.3% | 1.70 | |
| 17 - 10 | +7 | 80.0 | 87.0% | 1.35 | |
| 15 - 13 | +2 | 78.3 | 82.6% | 1.21 | |
| 14 - 13 | +1 | 71.5 | 65.2% | 1.15 |
 MIBR |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 - 19 | -5 | 81.6 | 56.5% | 0.97 | |
| 18 - 17 | +1 | 67.7 | 52.2% | 0.88 | |
| 13 - 19 | -6 | 69.4 | 52.2% | 0.75 | |
| 6 - 20 | -14 | 56.5 | 52.2% | 0.43 | |
| 7 - 20 | -13 | 27.5 | 60.9% | 0.35 |
Final group stage standings:
1.
Astralis - Grand Final
2.MIBR - Grand Final
3.Ninjas in Pyjamas - $25,000
4.Space Soldiers - $15,000
5.Virtus.pro - $10,000
6.Cloud9 - $5,000
The winner of the BLAST Pro Series Stand-off, which will feature third-place finishers Ninjas in Pyjamas and the team of their choosing, will earn another $20,000.
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund
Professional_HLTV_User
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