Astralis book playoff spot in Cologne; mousesports repeat EPL victory over FaZe

Astralis secured a playoff spot at ESL One Cologne at the expense of fnatic (2-0), while MOUZ eliminated FaZe from the $300,000 event.

The third series of the day witnessed Astralis take on fnatic for a playoff spot in Cologne. Affairs kicked off on Train, where Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth landed his team the first pistol round off the back of a USP quad kill. Utter domination ensued on the defence, as Astralis consistently secured rounds, demonstrating outstanding form across the board, with the half ending with a dominant 14-1 scoreline in the Danes' favour.

On the CT side, fnatic were very near to securing the second pistol round in hopes of prolonging the map, but another immense showing, this time from Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen, saw a 1v3 post-plant conversion that put the team on map point. A single additional round victory with superior equipment in hand saw Astralis walk away with a stomp of a Train at 16-1.

Nuke was the second map of the series, one that saw a welcome pistol round victory for fnatic on their CT-side start. After being down 0-3, Astralis showed their first signs of presence on the offense, closing the round difference entirely. Struggles similar to those experienced on Train haunted the team again. Astralis exploited the fact amply, running away with a more-than-convincing 9-6 T half.

Having assumed the defence, Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander and his men left no margin for error, converting the pistol and all remaining rounds of the map, closing the lid on Nuke with another dominant performance at 16-6.

Over in group B's lower bracket elimination match, Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen and company got off to a swimming start on the offense of Inferno in the form of an immediate 6-0 lead. The teams went on to exchange one round each, but FaZe finally managed to find footing off the back of a AWP triple kill from Nikola "⁠NiKo⁠" Kovač, who shut down an A site advance single-handedly. FaZe went on to accrue the majority of their subsequent round count, bringing the deficit to 6-9.

On their T side, FaZe managed to secure the first pistol round, only to concede momentum immediately after to a pistol buy from MOUZ. Much like their opponents, the momentum was short-lived, seeing to Filip "⁠NEO⁠" Kubski and his men advancing their lead with five consecutive round victories. MOUZ went on to equalise the scoreline, leading to a brawl that ultimately ended in financial ruin for FaZe, and overtime. Four brisk rounds outside of regulation saw karrigan's squad take map one with a convincing 19-15 score.

Mirage was next on the agenda, where FaZe were unable to retain momentum in the early stages of the map on the offense, despite securing the first round. A consistently spotty performance from FaZe produced a significant 4-11 deficit for the Terrorists come half time.

A mirror opposite of the initial halfs' early ongoings were seen post-side switch, as now MOUZ' fruitful T start was upset by a force buy from FaZe. Financial issues on their opponents' part meant that the CTs were able to nearly double their round count, and more importantly develop much-needed momentum in the half.

Before FaZe were able to establish a concrete foundation, MOUZ struck while the steel was hot, forcing their opponents into a risky buy. The gamble didn't pay off as FaZe found themselves playing against MOUZ' series point, and inferior equipment meant elimination for NEO and his men, conceding Mirage with a 8-16 score.