BIG reverse-sweep Astralis at Fall Groups

The German-majority side recovered from an 8-16 hounding on Anubis to cast the Danes down to the Knockout Stage in Denmark.

BIG have secured their first win of the BLAST Premier Fall Groups after a laborious 2-1 win over Astralis, casting the Danish roster down to the do-or-die Knockout Stage in Copenhagen after recovering from an 8-16 defeat on Anubis by winning Ancient, 16-10, and narrowly prevailing on Overpass, 16-14.

The German-majority side, who recently divulged that Elias "⁠s1n⁠" Stein had started sharing in-game leadership duties with Johannes "⁠tabseN⁠" Wodarz in an interview with BLAST, started the tournament with an uninspiring defeat to HEROIC, but looked far more convincing in this series. They notably went on a piercing 11-round streak on Ancient before showing composure on the Overpass decider, with their two new academy graduates not faltering under the pressure and instead being key pieces in the labored 2-1 victory.

BIG now look ahead to their Group B consolidation final bout versus the newly-revamped Natus Vincere side on Tuesday at 18:30 . The eventual winner of the series will then go on to have a rematch versus HEROIC, who have been in dangerous form since returning from the player break, for a chance to earn a berth straight to the Fall Final.

Date	Matches
BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023
18/07/2023	Natus Vincere 19:10 BIG	Match

Astralis, by contrast, will now need to fight their way through the Knockout Stage for a chance to make the Fall Final without going through the unforgiving Fall Showdown. Given their last-place finish in Group B, Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer and company will require back-to-back victories to achieve that feat, with the new-look Danish troupe set to hop back in the server on Friday at 15:00 .

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The action between the teams began on BIG's pick of Anubis, although it was Astralis who enjoyed the better start, racing to a 5-1 lead on the CT-side after prevailing in a brief back-and-forth battle for economic control. The Danes, spurred on by a solid team-wide effort, continued to sit firmly in the driver's seat for much of the opening half, and it took until round 10 — and a double kill from Mateusz "⁠mantuu⁠" Wilczewski's AWP — for the Germans to finally add their second to the board. This round win ultimately proved to be a half-defining moment, allowing BIG to reduce the deficit down to just three at the side swap courtesy of a 1vs2 from tabseN in round 15.

A whiff from mantuu in the second pistol round of the map gifted Astralis the perfect opportunity to return to winning ways, and they grabbed the chance to do so with both hands, pushing up to 13 rounds with BIG struggling to find a meaningful answer. With this in mind, and consistently strong displays from the entirety of the Danish quintet showing few signs of slowing down, there was little that could be done to prevent Astralis from marching to victory, 16-8, to send the series to their turf of Ancient.

There was a case of déjà vu once the second map got rolling, the Danish ensemble again stamping their authority on the map to begin with, 5-2, albeit on the T-side this time around. mantuu once again came up trumps for his new organization in round nine, smiting down four Astralis members on the B bombsite with his hero AWP and kick-starting a comeback effort in the process. BIG went on to win all but one of the ensuing rounds in the half, with David "⁠prosus⁠" Hesse also coming online in the nick of time — the German added nine kills over the final five rounds and was a key reason why his team sat ahead, 8-7, at the interval.

BIG didn't relent and went on an absolute tear once it was their turn to attack; repeated hits of the A bombsite proved to be Astralis' kryptonite and the Danes were left scratching their heads round after round after being unable to mount any resistance whatsoever. The German side ended up extending their spree to 11 in a row to reach map point, with a short-lived burst of life from the Danes being unable to prevent a series-defining 16-10 scoreline in BIG's favor.

Of particular note was Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr's performance across the map. The Dane, who was praised by Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz as one of Denmark's best talents in a number of years, mustered just seven kills over the 26-round affair, ending proceedings with a lackluster 0.59 rating — a humungous drop off compared to his 1.39-rated showing on the Anubis opener.

BIG, now brimming with confidence following their dominant rebuttal on Ancient, continued to turn up the heat once the Overpass decider began. The team around tabseN were carried to a 5-1 start on the T-side by strong showings from Karim "⁠Krimbo⁠" Moussa and s1n, who combined for 16 kills midway through the half. It appeared as if BIG were in prime position to run away with things, their economy in good shape and the momentum well and truly in their favor. However, Astralis started to mount a near-impenetrable defensive line in conjunction with an uptick in form from device, repeatedly shutting down BIG's offensive maneuvers to head into the break just one round behind.

The Danes had the chance to regain the lead after pulling off a force-buy victory in response to a BIG win in the pistol round, but the Germans held firm. They answered straight back in round 18, subsequently emptying Astralis' coffers and paving the way for the lineup to charge to within two rounds of all-out victory, 14-10. It was at this point that the hard-fought nature of the series thus far reached its peak; Astralis slowly reduced the deficit, only for BIG to steal a round away despite fielding a saved M4A1-S and mix of SMGs. It all came down to the 30th round, where double kills from mantuu and Krimbo shut down a B hit from the Danes and secured victory for their squad, 16-14.