Astralis out of Major contention after NIP loss

There will be no Astralis at a Major for the second consecutive time after IEM Rio in November.

Astralis have been eliminated from contention for a spot at the BLAST.tv Paris Major after going 1-3 in the qualifying Europe RMR B tournament. The Danes suffered early best-of-one losses to Vitality and Eternal Fire to enter elimination series, where they first beat Spirit but then fell at the hands of Ninjas in Pyjamas.

Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen's squad outclassed Astralis 16-4 on the Danes' pick, Nuke, and clinched the series 2-0 after their opponents could not convert advantages on Vertigo time and time again. Ninjas in Pyjamas move on to the 2-2 pool matches, in which a win would send them to Paris and a loss to the last-chance qualifier to fight five other teams for a single spot.

Astralis' failure marks the second consecutive time the organization misses out on an appearance at a CS:GO Major. Before the team brought in Christian "⁠Buzz⁠" Andersen and Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz at the brink of the year, the core failed to qualify for the IEM Rio Major, which brought an end to the organization's streak of attending every Major since it was founded in 2016.

It comes as a massive blow to the Danish squad, who have struggled to make their mark on the tier-one scene for quite some time, having made just one big playoffs appearance in the past year, at ESL One Cologne.

Astralis hoped the return of six-time top-five player device would turn their fortunes. The AWPer has delivered impressive performances despite spending a year away from competition, averaging a 1.23 rating in 2023 so far, but even the significant firepower injection has done little to improve results.

Astralis' form took a turn for the better somewhat in the past month as they qualified for IEM Dallas, but the early exit from the Major qualifier sends them back to the drawing board and with some decisions to make as many call for more changes inside the team.