Astralis advance to New Champions Stage over CR4ZY

Astralis won a three-map series against CR4ZY on Inferno (16-11), Dust2 (29-31), and Vertigo (16-5) to earn a playoff spot in Berlin with a 3-1 record.

Astralis took a 3-0 lead on the attacking side of their map pick, Inferno, but CR4ZY were quick to retaliate in the fourth round once they were able to make a proper buy as Otto "⁠ottoNd⁠" Sihvo downed two to open the round. It seemed like CR4ZY would be able to win another round as Nemanja "⁠nexa⁠" Isaković mowed down three on B to make it a 1vs2, but Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth clutched out after planting the bomb to keep the Danes ahead. Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač and Nestor "⁠LETN1⁠" Tanić then made sure to keep Astralis close with a triple and a double, respectively, which LETN1 followed up with a triple of his own against a forcebuy to make it 3-4. Spearheaded by nexa, CR4ZY went on to win the half, albeit just barely, 8-7.

The second pistol round went the way of Astralis as three opening kills on the B site by Xyp9x cleared the way for a 3vs2 retake against two low-health Terrorists. After winning the first three rounds to make it 10-8, CR4ZY were able to bring it back to a tie, with ottoNd denying Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen the defuse in a 1vs1 in the second of the two rounds. After faltering a third time due to an eco, Astralis picked the rhythm back up, with offensive plays on the CT side that caught CR4ZY off-guard. From there on out it was the Danes who took control of the map on the defense, closing it out 16-11 to take the 1-0 lead in the series.

Dust2 kicked off with Astralis taking over the B site despite taking early grenade damage in the halls, planting in a 5vs3 situation to win the first round. CR4ZY were able to find their first round thanks to three kills by Rokas "⁠EspiranTo⁠" Milasauskas in mid, and they further found their footing midway through the half after a triple by LETN1 to hold B, which put some wind in his team’s sails, but a strong finish by Astralis who were able to adapt to the CT players gave the Danish side a 9-6 lead into halftime.

Another pistol kill win going the way of Astralis further increased their lead on the defending side. Three rounds into the half, CR4ZY were able to win against lesser weapons saved from the anti-ecos and then one more round after. Astralis was able to reply with one of their own, but quickly started to falter as the majority Serbian team brought it back to a tie. Following a pause, Astralis retook their lead.

The Danes were then able to win a 2vs3 afterplant situation after a quick B split, but not in time to defuse the bomb. CR4ZY then took a 14-13 lead to try and make a final push to take it to a decider, but a shot through the smoke by Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz in a 1vs1 tied it back up as he defused the bomb on the A site. Another aggressive B split worked for CR4ZY, who forced up were able to take the site and win a 3vs2 afterplant situation to push it to overtime.

CR4ZY managed to take the first round of overtime on the attack before the two teams traded rounds as huNter- took down three in a 4vs3 afterplant in the 33rd round, giving the European combine a one-round advantage going into the second half. Astralis tied it up, but it was CR4ZY who were able to make it to map point first, but were unable to seal the deal. They then took the two first rounds of the second overtime before giving one up as Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander and Xyp9x both got doubles. Astralis then brought it back after winning against two CR4ZY match points, but were then unable to close after two match-points of their own, which included losing a 3vs5.

An amazing play by ottoNd with four frags including a 1vs2 clutch on the B site to defuse tied up the fourth overtime, 25-25. Two rounds later, Astralis were back in the lead, but despite winning a close 5vs5 afterplant they were unable to defuse the bomb on time. The match hit a fifth overtime, the last one, which CR4ZY was able to win 31-29 to push the match to a decider.

CR4ZY took the lead on Vertigo, winning their first pistol round of the series on the CT with huNter- getting two entries. Astralis managed to tie it up 2-2 with two very close round wins. The Danes quickly made the early map snowball until CR4ZY, down 3-10, were able to get another as EspiranTo was able to win a 1vs2 to tally a fourth, his team’s last in the half.

A double by device and triple by gla1ve gave Astralis the last pistol round of the match, who went up 12-4 and inched closer and closer to end the series. WIth the wind in their sails, Astralis shut CR4ZY down, giving up but a single round in the second half to seal the deal, 16-5, and book their ticket in the New Champions Stage.