Astralis advance to EPL playoffs, FaZe to face Virtus.pro in lower bracket

The Danes claimed revenge over karrigan's side after losing to them in the semi-final of IEM Chengdu.

Astralis are through to the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 19 after beating FaZe 2-0 in the Group A upper bracket semi-final, adding another strong result to the Danish team's run of form since adding Alexander "⁠br0⁠" Bro and letting Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz take over in-game leadership.

A match against 3DMAX now offers Astralis the chance to advance directly to the quarter-finals, while Finn "⁠karrigan⁠" Andersen's side has been cast down to the lower bracket with a dangerous match against Virtus.pro next in the cards.

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 19
25/04/2024	Virtus.pro 19:30 FaZe	Match
27/04/2024	3DMAX 16:45 Astralis	Match

device's troops claimed wins on Ancient (13-11) and Nuke (13-9) to secure the series sweep, with the veto unfolding the exact same as when the teams first faced in the group stage of IEM Chengdu. That match resulted in a one-sided victory for Astralis, but FaZe came out ahead when the teams faced off again in the semi-finals before going on to lift the trophy.

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The third meeting between the teams in just two weeks went the other way yet again, with br0 and Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr joining the broadcast after the game to discuss the rematch and revenge victory.

"It feels amazing," Staehr said. "They're always a tough opponent, so it feels amazing to win."

"I mean, it's pretty tough for me," br0 added regarding the head-to-head match against FaZe. "The first officials [in Astralis] and 50% is versus FaZe. Tough practice, but I feel like we've got a grasp on how they play and we understand them well, and we're very good at adapting."

br0 credited Casper "⁠ruggah⁠" Due and device for their preparation and calling, as well as echoed device's sentiments from Tuesday by crediting Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund for his mid-round calling during the game. He also discussed his integration into the team thus far and his performance thus far, stating he is making mistakes that he wouldn't have called mistakes until recently.

"I feel like I'm on the right path toward playing [my] best CS," the 19-year-old said. "I feel like there's still a lot of mistakes that I could fix.

"Coming into this, I'm learning a lot, and I'm doing some mistakes that I wouldn't, in the recent time, call mistakes, but I've been learning and I'm still learning a lot from the experienced players that I have on my team. So yes, I'm on the correct path, and also maybe in the best time."

Ancient started as a complete masterclass by Astralis, who went on a 9-1 tear on the T side and completely crushed FaZe's defenses in the first half, helped by a 1vs3 by Staehr.

FaZe salvaged two rounds toward the end of the half and then went on an equally terrifying run once on the attack, winning eight of the first nine rounds in an almost mirror effort of the first half from Astralis to take the lead. Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard stepped up massively for his side, however, by denying karrigan a 1vs3 clutch to break the streak, and he added another triple kill in round 24 to edge out the win for his side.

Nuke began with FaZe in control, with two clutches enabling a 5-1 start before Astralis recovered to tie the game at halftime. A scrappy pistol round and 1vs2 from stavn, followed by a 3vs5 recovery by him and Staehr, then helped Astralis throttle FaZe's defenses, with the Danes quickly reaching series point before closing out the game a few rounds later.