Astralis outclass SAW to book playoff spot

The Danish team will play at the Wembley Arena after a dominant victory against the tournament's ​​underdogs.

Astralis have locked in a spot in the quarter-final stage of the BLAST Premier Spring Final with a quick 2-0 victory against SAW. The Portuguese side, ranked 28th in the world, was made to regret a gamble Dust2 pick, mustering only six rounds on the opening map of the series.

The following map, Inferno, was just as one-sided, with Astralis grabbing control of the game from the early exchanges and suffocating their opponents with their pressing. It was the sort of dominant performance that the Danish team needed after yesterday's defeat to Natus Vincere.

Heading into SAW's pick of Dust2, Rafael "⁠arrozdoce⁠" Wing said that his team wanted to punish the mistakes Astralis had made against NAVI, but it soon became clear that this was a different-looking Astralis side.

The Danes came out looking to stamp their authority on the game and quickly took control of the game, hitting back after losing a scrappy pistol. They didn't give SAW any breathing room and imposed their game on their opponents as the first half ended with an 8-4 scoreline.

More misery was to come for the Portuguese team as Astralis added to their lead after a strong start to their T side. Michel "⁠ewjerkz⁠" Pinto still tried to keep SAW in the game with an ace, but their comeback attempt was quashed after just two rounds.

"We could have picked Nuke, but we thought, 'Are we going to pick one of their best maps?'" SAW coach Danny "⁠BERRY⁠" Krüger said after the match. "We were okay on Dust2 in practice. They studied us and countered what we wanted to do, and it was very hard to adapt."

Inferno followed the same pattern as Dust2, with SAW winning the initial round but failing to convert it. Astralis poked hopes in SAW's defense at will as they established a 9-3 half-time lead, and they didn't concede a single round after the side switch.