Cloud9 defeat Astralis to win Brazy Party

The Russian-majority roster got the better of the Danes in three maps to pick up their second online tournament victory of the year.

Cloud9 have earned a $133,000 payday after taking down Astralis in a three-map series in the Brazy Party grand final, conceding Overpass (5-16) and responding on Vertigo (16-7) before wrapping up the tournament with a tournament-ending victory on Inferno (16-12).

Cloud9 will look to use their first-place showing as a way of building some much-needed confidence and stability, especially after missing out on a spot at the upcoming BLAST.tv Paris Major following an unsuccessful campaign through the RMR qualifier in April. The Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov-led lineup's next outing will be stateside at IEM Dallas, set to run on May 29-June 4, where the Russo-Kazakh side will aim to pick up back-to-back trophies in Texas after previously doing so at the tournament's 2022 edition.

Read more

Astralis promote Altekz to main roster as sixth man

Astralis, on the other hand, will undoubtedly be disappointed that they couldn't go all the way in the online competition, but will still leave with their heads held high. Brazy Party acted as Alexander "⁠Altekz⁠" Givskov's debut tournament with the squad, and the Danes will be feeling confident that their most recent roster move was the right choice after securing a grand final finish right off the bat with their new recruit.

The action between the two teams began on Astralis' pick of Overpass, where the Danes boasted an impressive 89% win rate over nine outings in the past three months.

This veto choice immediately paid dividends as Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander and company raced to a 5-0 lead on the T-side, a slow and methodical offensive effort allowing the Danish quintet to get a firm grip on the game's opening stages. It took a triple kill from Abay "⁠HObbit⁠" Khassenov in round six for Cloud9 to get on the board, but this did little in helping Cloud9 get back into the game; Astralis, spurred on by a 17-kill performance from Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer, continued to lay down the law to head into the side swap with a five-round buffer.

Crisp shooting from Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz at the resumption of play allowed the Dane to gun down three and earn Astralis their second pistol round of the map. From this point on, it was simply a case of the Danish troupe taking care of business, even pulling off a 3vs5 in the 20th round to keep the Russian-majority roster at bay before going on to convert their map pick in commanding fashion, 16-5.

Cloud9 didn't skip a beat once Vertigo rolled around, pulling out all the stops as they built up a 4-1 lead on the T-side — eager to force an Inferno decider. The Danes managed to recover as the half played out, with blameF continuing to act as his team's leader as Astralis managed to edge ahead, 5-4. Alas, C9 were able to hop back in the driver's seat just as Dmitry "⁠sh1ro⁠" Sokolov began to wake up from his slumber; the Russo-Kazakh lineup won five of the final six rounds of the half to head into their CT-side with a 9-6 cushion to their name.

HObbit defused the C4 in smoke to guide his side onto double digits, with it now being Cloud9's turn to keep their foot on the gas post-halftime. The Russian-majority outfit conceded just one round throughout their time on the defense, overpowering Astralis at every turn to ensure the grand final would be a full-length best-of-three affair.

Inferno began with Cloud9 pulling off daylight robbery. Despite sh1ro being on just $0 and the squad fielding a mishmash buy of pistols, the Russian-majority roster clinched victory in round three to steal control of the momentum and get their T-side campaign started. Cloud9 made full use of their unexpected steal, chaining together a further five rounds to lead with a comfortable 6-2 advantage midway through the opening half. device, who had a lackluster 9-19 K-D showing on Vertigo, was lighting up the server individually, but even his 17 kills weren't enough to help Astralis stave off a lopsided defeat at the break — C9 once again sported a 9-6 advantage at the break.

Astralis enjoyed a hot start once on the T-side, adding three rounds to their tally with every member of the Danish quintet pulling their weight, 9-9. Just as things looked to be heating up, however, Cloud9 stabilized. A nafany and Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov masterclass kept the two bombsites under lock and key, with the majority-Russian roster nabbing six rounds on the trot to get onto map and series point. Astralis did chime in with three of their own to raise the prospect of an overtime affair but Cloud9 refused to allow such an ending, picking up the sole round they needed to close out Inferno, 16-12, and win Brazy Party in the process.