Astralis eliminate Monte to keep Copenhagen hopes alive

Monte, Paris Major quarter-finalists, fall out of the RMR with a 1-3 record.

Astralis are still fighting to reach the first Danish Major after beating Monte 2-1 (Ancient 13-8, Vertigo 4-13, Overpass 13-8).

The Danes rarely looked at their free-flowing best, fumbling anti-eco rounds and extending their Vertigo loss streak to five, but rallied in the decider with a confidence-boosting display on Overpass. They now enter the 2-2 pool, with the last chance qualifier ensuring the prospect of missing a third successive Major remains at bay for now.

Monte, meanwhile, are sent home after Viktor "⁠sdy⁠" Orudzhev missed the first two best-of-ones with illness and the team could not get back up to speed after his return for losses against Apeks and now Astralis.

The Ukrainian side made a name for themselves during the last Major cycle with a quarter-final finish in Paris, but could not repeat their heroics in Bucharest despite remaining in and around the top ten over the last twelve months.

Ancient began with both teams struggling against low buys, but Astralis had the better of the first half and were given full reign over B Cave and Middle to end the T half in control.

Their pick ended 13-8 in their favor, but they were slammed back to reality as Monte smashed them on Vertigo.

It started well with a pistol for the Danes, but Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard and Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund were caught out on B to leave the anti-eco in a 3vs4 situation, one where Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer overpeeked on Ramp to hand the round and momentum to Monte. From there, sdy's side ran away with the map and faced only mild resistance.

Overpass was a return to the pre-game script, a deciding map that could easily have been Astralis' pick, and the Danes all came alive to win their individual duels en route to a haul of seven T rounds on the defensive-sided level.

A timeout was called for medical issues related to Szymon "⁠kRaSnaL⁠" Mrozek midway through the first half, another blow for Monte that they could not recover from as their Major hopes went down in flames.