Astralis edge past MIBR in BLAST Premier Fall Series

The Brazilian team put up quite a fight and exceeded all expectations in this exciting series.

Astralis are through to the upper bracket final in BLAST Premier's Group C following a hard-fought victory over MIBR. Counter-Strike fans had to wait almost two hours for the match to begin as Steam network issues pushed the starting time from 16:30 to 18:10 , but it was well worth the wait as the two teams played out a thrilling series that went the full distance.

Playing their first official match in two months and fielding a trio of stand-ins, MIBR surpassed all expectations as they looked fearless throughout the series and even managed to win on Astralis' home turf of Nuke, leading many to wonder what would have happened had they managed to convert their map point on Vertigo, which had gone to the Danes in overtime. After months of disappointment, the standard of this performance felt very much like a win for the Brazilian fans, even if the team was blown out on Inferno, where they never stood a chance against the red-hot Danes.

The Brazilian team pinned their hopes on a Vertigo pick, hoping to catch their opponents off-guard, and the move paid off despite a slow start to the game. After going up 2-0, MIBR lost control of the game as their defense was ruthlessly prised apart by Astralis, but a late recovery saw them win five rounds without response to head into the break with a narrow 8-7 lead.

Alencar "⁠trk⁠" Rossato opened up the action in the second half with two entry frags in mid to send his team further into the lead. It took a while for Astralis to get a round on the board, and when they finally did it there was no follow-up as they wasted a 4v2 advantage. MIBR raced to a 14-8 lead, but the Danes clawed their way back to take it to overtime. Astralis' experience came to the fore after regulation as they comfortably picked up two rounds in both halves to lock up the map.

MIBR were unfazed by that missed opportunity and Astralis' impressive record on Nuke (88% winrate in the last three months) as they fought back from a 0-3 deficit to take a two-round lead. But despite an impressive performance by Vito "⁠kNgV-⁠" Giuseppe, who ended the half with 17 frags to his name, the Brazilians still went into the break chasing a 7-8 deficit.

Now playing on the T side, MIBR came out with all guns blazing as they stormed to a 13-10 lead after shutting down any chances of Astralis stringing rounds together. Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz then stepped up to the plate to inspire a furious reaction from his team, who strung three rounds together to restore parity in the game. The Danes appeared to be in control, but then a trio of kills by kNgV- turned the game on its head: with no money in the bank, Astralis saw their opponents reach map point, with Leonardo "⁠leo_drk⁠" Oliveira then landing the finishing blow with a timely flank onto heaven.

Inferno turned out to be a one-way street as Astralis ran rampant from the offset, dominating their opponents en route to an 11-4 battering, with Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif topping the scoreboard with a 1.86 rating. kNgV- still kept Brazilian fans' hopes alive with a 1v2 clutch in the following pistol, but Astralis immediately regained control and never let go.