Live updates from YaLLa Compass quarter-finals

After a seemingly never-ending countdown timer on stream, we are nearing the start of the second quarter-final in Abu Dhabi.

fnatic have gone for an Anubis pick, a curious choice given their 27% win rate, while Ninjas in Pyjamas have gone for Ancient. Mirage is the decider if needed.

After the victory against BetBoom, Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz shared his thoughts on the upcoming best-of-three series against The MongolZ, who recently won MESA Nomadic Masters Spring.

"They are one of the teams that are coming in hot. We beat them on Inferno, but it's a best-of-three now. I'm excited to play them. Hopefully, the guys here will cheer for us tomorrow."

Astralis 15-14 BetBoom

Astralis 12-12 BetBoom

With no margin for error, BetBoom won the final two rounds of the half to equalise the score and take the game to overtime. After two lopsided maps, Ancient is turning out to be quite the nail-biter!

Astralis 11-10 BetBoom

It's now five rounds in a row for Astralis, who have finally hit their stride on the CT side. BetBoom now have a full buy to work with, and it's a must-win round for them.

Astralis 6-10 BetBoom

How quickly this game has turned! Astralis' third-round buy did not pay off, leaving the Danish team with a weak economy and chasing a four-round deficit. The momentum is now clearly with BetBoom.

Astralis 6-6 BetBoom

BetBoom showed some signs of life towards the end of the half and equalised the score after winning two of the last three rounds. It looked like Astralis were going to win out the half, but BetBoom managed to grab the final round on a weak buy.

Astralis 5-4 BetBoom

After a slow start, Astralis are dictating the pace on Ancient, winning five rounds in a row. BetBoom are desperately trying to find a way back into the half before it's too late.

The series is going to a third map! Led by Aleksandr "⁠zorte⁠" Zagodyrenko, BetBoom picked up a commanding 10-2 lead on the T side. Things looked a bit shaky after the break as Astralis won five rounds in a row to bring the score to 11-7, but then the Russian side bagged two in a row to lock down the map.

Next up is Ancient, one of Astralis' best maps, though they come off a 13-11 defeat to Ninjas in Pyjamas on it.

Astralis 2-10 BetBoom

The more simplistic and puggy nature of Mirage plays to BetBoom's strengths, and they have rolled that into a powerful half of play.

Astralis struggled to hold onto the B site, gave up too many openers, and were generally outclassed.

Astralis 0-4 BetBoom

We are back after the tech pause and BetBoom have resumed their strong T side, taking another round thanks to an execute onto the A site.

Astralis 0-3 BetBoom

After a nice 3-0 start on the T side for BetBoom, an extended tech pause has struck the match.

Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund's PC seems to be the issue, he also experienced a short-lived tech problem on the first map.

Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz posted over 100 ADR to top the scoreboard as Astralis cruised to a straightforward win on Nuke.

BetBoom had little to offer on their T side, they missed too much utility and their inability to capitalize on mid-round advantages was a real problem, thus they duly slipped to a meek defeat.

This was Astralis' map pick, however, so expect BetBoom to be more competitive on Mirage.

Astralis 7-2 BetBoom

Astralis are cruising on this CT side, they've now strung five rounds together on the bounce.

BetBoom have found advantages in the mid-round, but they haven't been able to marshal their forces to capitalize.

BetBoom have got a decent veto for themselves, with their three best maps lined up, something the analyst desk were surprised that Astralis allowed to happen.

Astralis will kick their map pick off on the CT side.

Astralis have taken some time to find the right mix of Danish talent since the break up of their era-defining, four-time Major winning squad. There is a feeling that now, they might have finally concocted a lineup that can win championships again.

The first playoff road block infront of the Danes is BetBoom. Led by the oft-maligned Vladislav "⁠nafany⁠" Gorshkov, BetBoom have been a solid fixture in the top 20 of the world rankings but short of the elite since their inception. Kirill "⁠Magnojez⁠" Rodnov has been a revelation since joining two months ago, and perhaps he can help the Russian side kick on.

Magnojez's stats since joining BetBoom

The only time these two sides have met previously was during CCT Global Finals 2024 mere weeks ago. Despite seeming heavily favored towards Astralis, it was a hard-fought series that went to overtime on both maps, with the Danes clinching the matchup by the skin of their teeth.

CCT Global Finals 2024Best of 3

Astralis

Matchpage

2

0

20th May 2024

BetBoom

16

Vertigo

13

19

Mirage

17

BetBoom might be underdogs, but considering the previous matchup and the group stage records of the two teams at YaLLa Compass, they will fancy their chances. BetBoom were imperious in the group bar a significant 1-13 hiccup against FURIA, whilst Astralis were a little shaky, losing to Sashi and Ninjas in Pyjamas.

The Danes benefitted to some extent from the weakness of other teams in their group to progress, and their win over The MongolZ at the end of their group campaign came with The MongolZ already through to the semi-finals.

Ninjas in Pyjamas and fnatic were once giants of the Counter-Strike world. Titles across both 1.6 and GO, some of the best players to have touched the game amongst their alumni, and multiple GO Major finals and trophies between them.

fnatic and NIP contested the first-ever Major final in GO

Now, both teams are shadows of their former selves. It's been nearly two years since Ninjas in Pyjamas were a top-five team, nearly four for fnatic, and the last time either won a significant trophy was back in 2021.

Having flown the flag for Swedish CS across much of their history, both teams have turned to the international player pool in recent years in an attempt to reverse their ailing fortunes.

It has taken some time, but now the two teams seem to be on the right path. fnatic outclassed Complexity and Eternal Fire in the group stage, both ranked among the top 15 sides in the world, whilst Ninjas in Pyjamas took down a highly-touted Astralis in impressive fashion.

Will fnatic, powered by the recent singing of multi-time top 20 player Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer, emerge victorious, or will Ninjas in Pyjamas's teenage carry duo of Artem "⁠r1nkle⁠" Moroz and Max "⁠maxster⁠" Jansson prove the difference?

blameF is currently the joint highest-rated player of YaLLa Compass

After two days of chaotic, hectic, and at times confusing best-of-one action, series play is ready to take over as we hit the playoffs of YaLLa Compass.

FURIA and The MongolZ await in the semi-finals, but first four teams must battle it out in the quarter-finals for the right to face them.

Date	Matches
YaLLa Compass 2024
07/06/2024	BetBoom 15:15 Astralis	Match
07/06/2024	Ninjas in Pyjamas 19:45 fnatic	Match

First up is a bout between Astralis and BetBoom. The Danes come into the match as favorites, but BetBoom put together a tidy run in the group stage whilst Astralis looked a tad shaky.

The second match of the day was once one of the biggest rivalries in CS and a Swedish derby. Now, fnatic and Ninjas in Pyjamas are a long time past the glory days and have both gone down the international route with their rosters.

Stay tuned to keep up to date with all the happenings in Abu Dhabi.