New-look NAVI spoil Astralis' LAN debut at BLAST Fall Groups

Natus Vincere's debut match with their new European core ended in victory.

Natus Vincere have secured their first win at BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023, taking down Astralis 2-1 in their new lineup's LAN debut. The newly-formed European mix started off slow on Ancient (8-16), but quickly picked up the pace with a dominant victory on Nuke (16-6) and a solid T side on Overpass (16-12)

Astralis' first match the Danish event did not go according to plan, and Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer will have to wait until Sunday for his next shot at victory. The loss means that Peter "⁠casle⁠" Ardenskjold's men have been relegated to Group B's lower bracket, where they'll face BIG, hoping to avoid the last chance bracket.

Astralis' newest star could not have wished for a better LAN debut with the crimson jersey as Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr led the line for his team in the early stages, powering them to a seven-round winning streak on the back of his impressive fragging output. The 18-year-old clocked in at a 1.41 rating and 16-10 K-D, forming an impressive trident of firepower with Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and blameF in the first half.

The in-game leader's work was also worthy of note, both in terms of raw output and calling as Astralis' offensive rotations proved successful throughout the 10-5 half. The 26-year-old expected his individual performance to take a hit following his ascension as the team's captain, but he continued to put out the best numbers for the Danish squad throughout the series.

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casle's team continued to dominate after a brief stumble on the CT side and easily closed their pick 16-8 despite Oleksandr "⁠s1mple⁠" Kostyliev's heroics.

Natus Vincere were quick to respond with a statement victory of their own on Nuke, courtesy of a masterclass performance by s1mple. The Ukrainian superstar was putting up his usual numbers with a 1.50 T rating and four first kills to put his team firmly in front with a 10-5 scoreline.

Astralis successfully responded to Natus Vincere's pistol round victory in the second half, but an Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen 1vs3 clutch immediately stole back the momentum and cleared the way for the European squad to go unbeaten until the end. s1mple continued to shine as Natus Vincere snatched the last four rounds to force the decider with a 16-6 victory on their map pick.

Natus Vincere's T sides continued to impress on Overpass as they kicked off the map with another fantastic offensive performance. This time it was Mihai "⁠iM⁠" Ivan's time to shine, and he reminded us of his GamerLegion days on the map with a 1.44 score across the first 15 rounds. Astralis were fighting for scraps throughout the half and barely made a dent on Natus Vincere, trailing 3-12 before the break.

The tides changed drastically after switching sides and Astralis embarked on a comeback following a 1vs3 clutch from blameF in the pistol round. The Danes strung seven rounds on the bounce to reduce their deficit to 10-12, but it wasn't enough as Natus Vincere's defenses held out late to close the map 16-12.

s1mple and company's victory means they have secured a match against HEROIC in the group's upper bracket final on Sunday at 15:00 .

Date	Matches
BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023
16/07/2023	HEROIC 15:00 Natus Vincere	Match