SAW beat Astralis to make Brazy Party playoffs

The Portuguese side have defeated a second big-name team in as many days.

SAW followed up their victory over ENCE in their opening game of Brazy Party by besting Astralis 2-1 to qualify for the playoffs.

The Portuguese squad thrashed Astralis on the Danes' pick of Ancient 16-6, before being battered themselves on their own pick of Nuke 4-16. The series went to Inferno as the decider, and a massive T-side effort from SAW secured them a convincing 16-8 victory and sealed a playoff berth.

Astralis suffered in large part due to the underperformance of Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz, who posted 0.59 and 0.89 ratings on the two maps the Danes lost. By contrast SAW can thank a fantastic showing by newcomer to the roster Rafael "⁠arrozdoce⁠" Wing for getting them over the line, with his 1.84 rating and near-30 frags on Inferno driving them to victory.

Whilst the matchup was somewhat up in the air due to both squads fielding a new addition, Alexander "⁠Altekz⁠" Givskov and arrozdoce for Astralis and SAW respectively, the Danes will feel they should have been favorites for the match considering the calibre of player they host in the squad.

This result means SAW have taken two victories in as many days over sides in and around the top 20, as they defeated ENCE 2-1 in their first match in Brazy Party. That was a particularly impressive win as the European side are one of only two top 10 teams participating in the online tournament, and they had just completed a comeback run through the BLAST Paris Major Europe RMR B to secure their spot at the Major.

SAW by contrast were swept aside 0-3 in Europe RMR A, the less stacked of the two RMRs. They will certainly have recovered their confidence in spades following their two latest results, and with the playoffs ahead of them they have further opportunity to show what they are capable of with the latest iteration of the lineup.

Astralis have struggled to get themselves to an elite level after they brought device back into the fold late last year, and since their own failed RMR campaign they have made yet more changes by swapping elder statesman Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth out of the roster in favour of academy player Altekz.

The new-look Astralis comfortably bested GamerLegion 2-0 in Altekz's debut, but this defeat to SAW serves as an early setback for the new iteration of the roster. They still have the chance to make the playoffs of Brazy Party themselves, but they will have to navigate a tough matchup with ENCE if they are to do so.

Date	Matches
Brazy Party 2023
30/04/2023	ENCE 17:00 Astralis	Match