Astralis beat Na`Vi in three maps to win BLAST Pro Series Lisbon

Astralis came back from a map down to beat Natus Vincere 2-1 and secure the title of BLAST Pro Series Lisbon champions.

Na`Vi pinned their hopes on Overpass, knowing that a loss on this map would practically mean defeat in the serues as they would then have to play on Cache, a map virtually unknown to them this year.

Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif opened up the action with a trio of kills to put Astralis in the lead, which would not last though, as Na`Vi rallied back instantly on a force buy thanks to a triple kill by Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev.

Natus Vincere rode that momentum to an 8-2 lead, putting Astralis in danger of getting blown out. Astralis then found some breathing room as they strung two rounds together, but Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov put his team back in the driving seat with a triple kill, with the half ending with an 11-4 scoreline.

The Ukrainian team picked up where they left off and won the pistol round and an anti-eco to further add to their lead. After getting their economy in order, Astralis still attempted a response, but their resistance would soon collapse as Na`Vi set up a strong defense to lock down the map in the 23rd round.

Na`Vi picked up where they had left off and won the opening three rounds on Cache in convincing fashion. Astralis responded in gun play, but they were unable to take the lead, forcing Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander to call a tactical pause at 3-5. The short break bore immediate fruits as the Danes put up a water-tight defense to win the remaining rounds of the half.

Now playing on the CT side, Na`Vi kept their comeback hopes alive by taking the initial three rounds of the half. Their efforts were in vain, though, as Astralis took control of proceedings once they had money to work with, losing just one round before locking down the map at 16-9.

It all went down to Dust2, which began with a phenomenal round by Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen, who got four USP kills to his name, all headshots. Na`Vi responded in the third round and put together a string of rounds, securing the lead at 3-2, but the rest of the half was all about Astralis, who kept the Terrorists at bay time and time again for a 12-3 scoreline.

Na`Vi then found a lifeline as they secured the pistol round as CT, only to be dealt a heavy blow in the next round as Astralis hit back on a force buy. The Danes now had the economy control and were simply too far ahead, wrapping things up in the 19th round to bring the curtain down on a memorable year in the best possible way.

BLAST Pro Series Lisbon final standings:

1. Astralis - $125,000
2. Natus Vincere - $50,000
3. Cloud9 - $25,000
4. MIBR - $15,000
5. FaZe - $10,000 (+$20,000 from Stand-off)
6. Ninjas in Pyjamas - $5,000