Magisk: "When we play well as a team and individually we should always win against almost any team"

In a post-match interview, Astralis's Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif talked about some of the keys of his team's match-up against Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Astralis beat Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-0 in the quarter-finals, securing a pass to the next round of the bracket where they will face MIBR. The first map, Mirage, went the way of the Danes, 16-2, but a surprise Dust2 pick by Ninjas in Pyjamas made for a match that went all the way to 30 rounds before the Danes could seal the deal, 16-14.

In a backstage interview with ESL after the match against Ninjas in Pyjamas, which can be watched in full here, Magisk talked about how the series had gone from his perspective.

Ryan Hart:16-2 on the first map, how are you feeling right now?

Magisk: It should have been 16-0! No, just kidding! It feels really good, we played really good, I was surprised how everybody was playing all of the time, everyone was making the right calls, and I think it was just us playing insanely.

Ryan Hart: Important moments, an important clutch from xyp9x… After that you moved to Dust2, which turned out to be a much closer affair…

Magisk: We were trying to adapt a bit too much to their game style and that was good for them in a sense because we were worried about where they were going and all of that stuff instead of focusing on ourselves, which is what we did in the last few rounds. Obviously xyp9x had some very important kills on the A site, but other than that I think we adapted really well at the end of the match, although so did they.

When asked about whether the team was being pushed or not, Magisk replied that Astralis should be the favorites if they are all playing their A game.

Magisk: When we’re prepared and we play our A game and we play well as a team and individually we should always win against almost any team as it is right now although it is not easy because everyone is watching our demos and not trying to copy our playstyle but play around it and try to punish us for it.

In the post-match interview on stage, OJ Borg talked to Astralis' star AWPer, Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz, who spoke about the surprise in the veto against Ninjas in Pyjamas and tomorrow's match against MIBR, among other topics which can be found on the VOD.

device: We didn’t know NiP could play Dust2, and they surprised us with it, so props to them, they played amazing.

OJ Borg: You said you were surprised by them being able to play Dust 2. How much did that take you by surprise?

Device: Honestly, I think we got a good start on the T-side but they just got momentum and caught us off-guard. It’s a hard map to play when you don’t have economy, and they played their chances really well. It could have gone both ways for sure.

OJ Borg: Tomorrow, MIBR, it feels like a match that has been coming from a couple of years ago, they have the old lineup back. What do you envision tomorrow in that semi-final?

device: That’s a tough one, we’re going to go home and study them as hard as we can and obviously we expect a tough match, but time will tell, we’re just going to prepare and do our best.

Finally, device talked about the crowd and the support for Ninjas in Pyjamas at the Spodek Arena in Katowice:

device: I want to say one last thing, I want to say that it’s amazing that we have this kind of support for these legends, even if you don’t cheer for us, it’s amazing. We love your passion and thank you for coming.