Astralis and MOUZ sail into Chengdu semis

The re-aligned Danish squad end the group stage 5-0 in maps, 9-1 in pistol rounds, and with a 71.4% round win rate.

MOUZ and Astralis have confirmed top-four finishes at IEM Chengdu after winning their respective groups in China. Liquid and Virtus.pro, after defeat here, will start their playoff runs from the quarter-finals.

It will be Astralis' first Big Event playoffs since IEM Cologne 2023, and their honeymoon is well underway after switching to Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz as in-game leader and bringing in Alexander "⁠br0⁠" Bro to release Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund and Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard back to their preferred rotation CT positions.

The Danes, after adding a 2-0 smashing of Virtus.pro, limited their opponents to seven rounds or fewer on all five of their map wins and the benefits of the roster change were obvious with a defined style and stavn on an event-high 1.61 rating.

Overpass, a stalwart home map for Virtus.pro, saw huge impact from Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr around the Toilets as the imperious Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali offence was stalled time and time again for a 9-3 CT half in favor of Astralis.

After closing that out, Vertigo began in the same fashion as Astralis' last four maps as they secured their ninth pistol round in nine attempts before rolling into a 10-2 lead and closing the series out 2-0.

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Vertigo has been a particular weak point for VP, who have now lost on the 51st Floor four times in a row. "We are having some problems on Vertigo," David "⁠n0rb3r7⁠" Danielyan told HLTV before the match. "I think we will fix it as soon as we have some time in-between tournaments."

MOUZ, meanwhile, had to warm into their series against Liquid and required a late comeback on Inferno before rolling over Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller and company on Mirage.

"We made playoffs seven times in a row, you can't take that away from us," Dorian "⁠xertioN⁠" Berman said on the desk, but questions remain over MOUZ's form once the matches flip to the arena where the young squad has struggled historically.

Key man Jimi "⁠Jimpphat⁠" Salo shone throughout the series as MOUZ toiled against a Liquid team looking to exploit their lack of pressure. An 8-3 lead for Kamil "⁠siuhy⁠" Szkaradek's men turned into 9-11, but at that moment MOUZ went up a gear to steal away Liquid's pick.

With a convincing performance on Mirage, the series was over and MOUZ will have another chance to prove their doubters wrong on stage.