Astralis beat NAVI to clinch IEM Global Challenge final spot

The Danes came out victorious in a three-map series to secure their third consecutive final appearance.

Astralis have booked the first spot in the IEM Global Challenge grand final following a 2-1 win over Natus Vincere. The Danes ran out deserved victors in this clash between the two highest-ranked teams still in attendance, taking advantage of a NAVI team that looked a step off the pace. The CIS giants put in a resolute defensive performance on Nuke, but, other than that, they spent the majority of the match playing catch-up as Astralis were on the front foot for a substantial amount of time, with Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev struggling to make his mark on the contest.

Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander's troops now await the winner of the clash between BIG and Liquid as they enter their third final this month after winning DreamHack Masters Winter and finishing second in the BLAST Premier Fall Finals. And fans will be salivating at the prospect of the renewal of the old rivalry between Astralis and Liquid with a title and a $200,000 prize on the line.

"I think that [ending the year on a high note and reclaiming the No.1 spot in the rankings] would mean the world to us right now," gla1ve said after the match. "It has been such a turbulent year. If we could end at the top of the rankings and with a victory in a huge tournament, it would be amazing for us, we would be so grateful for that. Everybody is showing pretty good individual skill right now. I'm looking forward to the final. I think we can take it."

The series began at a frantic pace, with Astralis overturning a 2v5 situation in the first round of Inferno thanks to a quad-kill by Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth in pit. NAVI responded immediately and put together some rounds, but their lead was short-lived as Astralis regained control and continually punched holes in the CIS team's defence to head into the break on double-digit territory.

The Danish team deepened their lead even more after switching sides, bringing the scoreline to a 13-6 advantage. NAVI gradually chipped away at the deficit and shut down any chances of Astralis stringing rounds together, but by then they were already too far behind. With overtime looming, Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz came to the team's rescue with three quick kills to put the game away and the fans' minds at ease.

The first half of Nuke was highly contested, with only one round separating the two teams at the break as NAVI fought back from 4-7 down before gla1ve put his team ahead again with three quick frags in a chaotic round. NAVI levelled the score once again after the break, though, as Denis "⁠electroNic⁠" Sharipov picked up a trio of frags to help his team win an unlikely 3v5 situation in the pistol round.

Astralis inflicted a hammer blow on NAVI in the third round as they won an eco, but they would not be to capitalise on that. s1mple, who had ended the first half at the bottom of the scoreboard, then finally woke up and began wreaking havoc with the AWP. He and electroNic combined for 30 frags in the half as NAVI shut out the Danes and ran out convincing victors on the map.

The opening half of Train followed the same pattern as that of Nuke as Astralis took control of proceedings in the gun rounds before NAVI made a late recovery, bringing the deficit to a solitary round on the back of an eco victory.

Astralis came out of the break still on the front foot and gave up just one round en route to series point. Just like on Inferno, NAVI still tried to react when they were against the ropes, but their comeback hopes were buried when Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif and device shut down the A site with an AUG and an AWP, the only weapons that Astralis had at their disposal.