Astralis beat Complexity to secure playoffs; Virtus.pro eliminate Spirit from DH Masters

The Danish team started off on the right foot with their new roster, while an early exit leaves Spirit disappointed.

As the group stage of DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 rolls on, we have witnessed Virtus.pro eliminating Spirit from group A (16-11, 16-11), and Astralis overcoming Complexity to secure playoffs (16-10, 22-19).

With Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz's blockbuster move to Ninjas in Pyjamas happening shortly ahead of the tournament, the spotlight was on Astralis in the group stage. So far, the Danes have passed their tests, overcoming Extra Salt and Complexity to secure at least a top-6 finish at the $250,000 tournament.

Meanwhile, Spirit's loss to regional rivals Virtus.pro sees the tournament ending early for Leonid "⁠chopper⁠" Vishnyakov and co. The team that peaked at No.6 in the world earlier this year will hope to do better at their upcoming challenges - the CIS RMR tournament in May and IEM Summer in June.

Astralis' bout against Complexity started on Vertigo, where an inspired Lucas "⁠Bubzkji⁠" Andersen — who picked up the AWP on the defense — made the difference for his team. A 9-6 CT-side lead was converted into a comfortable 16-10 victory, with a couple of highlight rounds from Valentin "⁠poizon⁠" Vasilev standing out for his team in the loss.

On Inferno, Complexity's defense struggled to deal with the fast pace Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander threw at them, seeing the Danes pick up a 10-5 lead. A big comeback followed for the European mixture, leading the game go into overtime, where Astralis pulled it over the line.

"What motivated us the most was to prove people wrong, to prove that we can also play well without device", Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen said in a post match interview. He also compared taking on the main AWP role now and back in 2017-2018, following device's sick leave:

"The one thing that changed the most in terms of me picking up the AWP now is that device isn't here anymore. People can't sit and say 'Why is dupreeh on the AWP when device is obviously a better AWPer than him?'. There isn't a better option within the team right now. That also takes a lot of pressure away from me," the 28-year-old explained.

Virtus.pro's victory over Spirit was based on two stellar CT sides and another strong showing from their Latvian star Mareks "⁠YEKINDAR⁠" Gaļinskis. On Train, they gained a huge lead in the middle part of the match and denied a comeback attempt with a force buy B play. Inferno looked shaky in the first half, but a stellar defense (10-1), earned Virtus.pro the victory and a lower-bracket final game against the winner of G2 - MOUZ.