Astralis break 9INE’s 16-win streak on Vertigo to make Brazy Party grand final

Astralis have made it to the final of their very first tournament with Alexander "⁠Altekz⁠" Givskov on the roster.

Brazy Party has its first finalist as Astralis beat 9INE 2-0 to secure their spot, clinching a narrow 22-19 victory on Vertigo before closing things out comfortably 16-7 on Ancient.

Astralis can thank their breaking of an immense 9INE win streak on Vertigo for this victory, as well as strong performances from their carry duo of Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer. They now look forward to a matchup with either Cloud9 or OG in the final, and have the opportunity to grab a trophy in their first event with Altekz among their number.

9INE have been reliant on their excellent Vertigo in their rise to the upper echelons of competitive CS, however, the pick betrayed them in this series as Astralis ended their 16-map win streak. Considering 9INE's struggles on Ancient — they have now lost the map 13 times in a row — the Poles have little wiggle room in the veto, and that is something they will need to rectify ahead of the BLAST Paris Major.

9INE’s pick of Vertigo kicked off with the Poles on the T side, and they snuck a narrow 8-7 half win thanks to their usual brand of intelligent mid-round play. Astralis, fueled by a powerful performance from device, could easily have put together a convincing defense but two key rounds went against them, one due to a Krzysztof "⁠Goofy⁠" Górski quad-kill in the second round and the other because of a Wiktor "⁠mynio⁠" Kruk 1v3 clutch mid-way through the half.

A CT pistol round victory set 9INE well on their way to a map win, but as they Poles put themselves on 13 Astralis made a half-buy push towards A ramp work. This allowed the Danes to put together a streak of rounds and claw their way back to parity at 13-13, but 9INE took a timeout to reshuffle their defensive approach and it was just enough to drag them to overtime.

One OT was not enough to separate the two sides, largely due to the fact both had rectified their problem positions on CT side; for Astralis, the B bombsite holds were more effective, whereas for 9INE it was their A ramp hold. The Danes eventually triumphed down the stretch, punishing an aggressive CT push from the Poles down B stairs in the key moment to secure a 22-19 victory.

With Ancient serving as Astralis’ pick the result of this match seemed a foregone conclusion, and the Danes duly delivered in the first half with a dominant 12-3 offensive effort, with Altekz shining on the T side. A couple impactful rounds from mynio got 9INE on the board mid-way through the half, but they were simply outclassed overall.

A pistol win and conversion gave 9INE a glimmer of hope of a comeback on their offense, but Astralis took firm control of the half once they got guns up and closed the series with ease, ending Ancient 16-7.