Astralis cruise past FURIA; to face mousesports in DreamHack Masters Winter grand final

Astralis breezed past FURIA on Overpass before bringing on Lucas "⁠Bubzkji⁠" Andersen as a substitute for Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth on Nuke, which they were able to win without a hitch.

Astralis defeated FURIA to secure a spot in the DreamHack Masters Winter grand final with a swift 2-0 victory in a semi-final series that marked the first time these two squads met since June of 2019. The Brazilians were on the rise after a shaky start on European soil, winning six matches in a row after their initial two losses since traveling from North America, but were quickly brought back down to earth by Astralis, who won their map pick, Overpass, with an ample 16-7 score line.

The Danish squad then made a substitution after the first map, bringing in Bubzkji for Xyp9x to add an extra bit of aggression, which made this match the 22-year-old’s first appearance with the team since ESL Pro League Season 12 in September. The tide didn’t turn on Nuke, FURIA’s map pick, however, as they were decimated by Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen’s men who took the CT side amply before closing the map and series out 16-6.

Astralis will now face MOUZ for all of the glory in the last match of the tournament, the best-of-five grand final, which will kick off on Sunday at 16:00 .

FURIA secured a 3vs4 retake on the B site of Overpass to open the scoreboard, but Astralis hit back securing the forcebuy as the two teams brawled for control early on. It was finally the Danes on the attack who were able to turn an advantageous economic situation into rounds on the board, with Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz leading the charge in the first half, which he ended with 114 ADR as his team took an 11-4 lead.

FURIA flooded the A site and defended the afterplant successfully to keep the game interesting early on in the second half as the Brazilians made it to 7-11. The story changed when Astralis got their hands on rifles, however, as they started to put up successful defenses. FURIA tried to break the hold time and again, but were instead handed a beating as the Danish squad cruised to a 16-7 victory to take the lead in the series.

Astralis brought over their momentum from Overpass, putting FURIA through the blender on the CT side time and time again, not giving Andrei "⁠arT⁠" Piovezan and company an inch to work with. It was finally on the ninth round that device died for the first time and the Brazilians were able to tally a round on a pistol buy off the back of two Desert Eagle kills by Henrique "⁠HEN1⁠" Teles. FURIA’s AWPer then got two more kills the following round, this time with the big green, but were ultimately shut down by Astralis who once again dominated the half, 12-3.

FURIA secured the second pistol round to keep the series alive, but much like Overpass, once Astralis were able to get their hands on rifles, they once again started to impose their will on the server as they closed the map and series out 16-6.