fnatic deny Astralis comeback to go 2-0 in ESL Pro League

fnatic have secured their second victory in ESL Pro League's second stage after taking down Astralis in a close three-map series.

The Swedes fought off two comeback attempts from Astralis, who managed to make Dust2 and Inferno incredibly close affairs despite finding themselves down 0-7 and 1-7 early but faltered at the last minute, with fnatic closing out the opening and deciding map to win the series.

The opening half of Dust2 could have turned out many ways when the first two rounds came down to clutches, but it was fnatic who reaped the rewards from Jesper "⁠JW⁠" Wecksell's consecutive 1v2s to get off to a dominant start.

A 7-0 run and eventually a 12-3 half suggested it was only a matter of time before the Swedes picked up a series lead, but Astralis still managed to fight back, with Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz putting up a triple and a 1v1 clutch to set off the comeback attempt. It wasn't until late in the game that fnatic picked themselves up again in true fnatic fashion — by turning around a 2v5 situation with just pistols — and claimed a hard-fought 16-13 victory.

Astralis settled the score to keep their hopes alive on Nuke. In the first half, the two sides went back and forth as the Danes were one round better before going over to the defense, where they gained a leg up with a 5-0 start and managed to stay in control, equalizing the series at 16-11.

Inferno saw fnatic close things out after another back-and-forth affair, in which JW & co. got off to another commanding lead early on but found themselves having to fight a tough battle. Staring down the barrel at 7-14, Astralis rose to the challenge and brought the map all the way to the end of regulation, but an ace and a key entry from Ludvig "⁠Brollan⁠" Brolin edged the series towards the Swedes.

With two more matches of the second round to go, the standings of the second stage of ESL Pro League Season 11 Europe currently look as follows: