Astralis through to Group A upper bracket final in Malmö

Astralis bested G2 2-0 in the upper bracket semi-final of Group A and to punch their ticket to the playoff stage at the Malmö Arena.

Astralis kicked off the series with a successful T-side pistol round on Nuke, which was later converted into a three-round lead. The CTs retaliated come full buy but were unable to develop any long-term momentum off the back of it, allowing the Danes an even more sizeable lead, reinforced by a spectacular triple kill from Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen. Faced with an extending round discrepancy, G2 found a solution to their CT-side issues, which yielded the squad five consecutive rounds; the Danes would still come out on top of the half, though by the slightest of margins.

A second pistol round victory for Astralis was significantly less productive on the defence, as G2 immediately cut any potential momentum with a force buy upset in round 17. This created breathing room for the French squad, who gradually worked towards a lead which extended well into the middle of the half. Astralis' sporadic retaliation throughout, coupled with a three-round string and another triple kill from dupreeh in round 30 prevented G2 from closing out the map, forcing overtime. Despite the previously tumultuous ongoings, Astralis convincingly cruised to a 19-16 victory in one additional batch of rounds, dropping but a single CT exchange in the process.

Dust2 saw G2 secure their first pistol round of the series, which was followed up by another round courtesy of an AK-47 triple kill from Nemanja "⁠huNter-⁠" Kovač. It was once again dupreeh who nudged the boulder for Astralis with another spectacular triple kill, albeit at the expense of Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth, who was caught in the crossfire. After this performance, the Danes were persistently able to fend off the French squad, leaving no wriggle room for the offense. This was the case until the very last round, where G2 ensured their third round of a half to keep their hopes alive.

In line with his outstanding showing over the series, dupreeh ensured the final pistol round for his team with a Glock triple kill to put even more pressure on G2's players. The offense proceeded to close out the following two rounds, ensuring match point and a weakened economy for the CTs. In spite of financial struggles, Audric "⁠JACKZ⁠" Jug managed to carve his team additional time in the series with an MP9 double kill. While this inspired G2 to close out four consecutive rounds, the squad lacked longevity in their comeback pursuit, falling 7-16 on Dust2 to move down to the lower bracket in Malmö.