Astralis cruise past ViCi in IEM Beijing opener

Astralis have claimed their first win of IEM Beijing 2019 thanks to a swift 2-0 victory over ViCi.

The series began on Inferno, ViCi's map pick, which saw Astralis push up to a 3-0 lead after picking up the first pistol round of the series. ViCi were finally able to catch a break during round four thanks to a double kill by Zhuo "⁠advent⁠" Liang inside the A bombsite; however, the players of Astralis quickly got back on their feet and shut down any hope ViCi had of stringing a few rounds together as they took a commanding 12-3 lead to close out the first half.

ViCi’s misfortune continued into their CT side as they crumbled under the weight of Astralis' precise aim and fast-paced offense. With their opponent's spirits broken, Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander and company were easily able to close out the first map of the series 16-5.

Astralis got off to yet another great start on their map pick, Nuke, as they easily answered ViCi's first round win with nothing more than pistols. ViCi's next best chance to get on the board was in a fifth-round buy, but before they could even get their defense properly set up, the players of Astralis had already torn their way into the B bombsite. With the confidence of Astralis shooting through the roof, ViCi yet again found themselves unable to claim more than a handful of rounds come the end of the half.

gla1ve and his men marched into their CT-side with confidence as they quickly converted a pistol round win into a four-round spree, swiftly bringing about an end to the series with a 16-4 victory to send ViCi to the Group A elimination match.