MIBR beat Astralis in three maps; to playoffs

The Group A winners' match started out with Astralis taking Mirage, MIBR's map pick, 16-10, but ended with the American side taking Train, 22-20, and Inferno, 16-14, to make it to the ECS Season 6 playoffs.

Mirage, MIBR’s pick, did not start off well for the American team, as Astralis were able to bag the first pistol round, the first gun round, and the two ecos on the attacking side to take a 4-0 lead. It was then that Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David and Tarik "⁠tarik⁠" Celik won a late-round 2vs2 on A against Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth and Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen to get on the board.

That round gave MIBR wings, as they were then able to turn the early match around taking a 6-4 lead after ten rounds, which prompted Astralis to take a timeout. The two teams then traded rounds before Xyp9x clutched out a 1vs2 to help the Danes get ahead going into halftime, 8-7.

Xyp9x then won a 1vs1 against tarik in the pistol round before defusing the bomb to keep Astralis in the lead. The second half was a complete whitewash from there on out, as the Danes won seven rounds in a row in dominating fashion to get in match point. MIBR finally answered with three rounds in a row, but it was too little too late as Astralis closed the map out, 16-10.

The second map, Train, started with Astralis once again taking the lead on the Terrorist side as Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz took down three. They then won against the forcebuy and the eco, making it 3-0. MIBR then took the reins from there, winning five rounds in a row before resetting Astralis and winning three more to make it 8-4.

The Danish side then got another on the board before Xyp9x got two entry frags in round 14. Two AWP kills by Gabriel "⁠FalleN⁠" Toledo and coldzera made it 3vs3, but Astralis were finally able to close out the round playing with the open space to end the half 7-8.

Astralis made it four out of four pistol rounds, tying the second map 8-8 on the CT side of Train, but MIBR took the second round with a forcebuy after opening frags by Fernando "⁠fer⁠" Alvarenga and coldzera that forced the surviving Astralis trio to save. The American side then followed it up, making it 10-8 and keeping the European squad under water economically. MIBR then kept up the tempo, only giving up one round out of seven, resetting the danes and making it 14-9 late in the second half.

From there on, though, the Danes showed their teeth, winning five round in a row to tie it up before MIBR took a timeout. MIBR had a great early round, making it a 5vs3, but they were unable to play the late round and missed the bomb plant losing it because the time ran out. The match then went into overtime as Jake "⁠Stewie2K⁠" Yip won a 1vs1 afterplant situation against device in the last round.

Both teams won all of the Terrorist side rounds, first MIBR and then Astralis after the switch, making it 18-18 and taking it to double overtime. The first half of the second overtime went the way of the CTs, MIBR, who won that side 20-19. They then took the first round of the Terrorist side, getting on map point. Finally, tarik was able to win a 1vs2 afterplant in the last round of the second overtime to kick it to map 3.

MIBR were finally able to win a pistol round on the CT side of Inferno. The first half of the decider then became a slugfest, but it was just the American team doing all the punching and Astralis getting beat to a pulp as FalleN & co. kept dominating round after round until they made it 7-0. Stewie2K then got four quick kills in round number eight but dupreeh had different plans, winning a 1vs5 to get his team on the board.

MIBR quickly reset the Danes the following round, though, and it looked like the trend would continue, but Astralis were able to make an A play work to get another on the board. Finally, the European team were able to bring the half back to a palatable 6-9. MIBR then got the opening kill in the second pistol round, but a surgical A defense by the Danes with four players remaining alive made the score even closer.

An arches to B play by MIBR the following round worked, however, resetting Astralis and returning the three-round advantage to the Americans. MIBR then took the reins of the match, winning four out of five rounds to make it 13-8. Astralis won a pistol buy to stay in the match, but a huge four kill round by FalleN once again inched MIBR closer to the finish line. The teams then traded rounds, making it 15-10.

The comeback started to seem real, as Astralis won four in a row after that to bring it to the last round of the map, but a clean round towards A from MIBR sealed the deal for the Americans.