Magisk carry not enough as Astralis send Falcons to Showdown

Astralis have earned themselves two chances to qualify for their home country's Fall Finals.

Astralis have eliminated Falcons from the BLAST Premier Fall Groups with the second victory over the Marco "⁠Snappi⁠" Pfeiffer-led team in five days.

Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz and company earned their way through to the group final, where they will rematch Vitality for a chance to qualify for the Fall Final, taking place in their home country's capital in September. Last time around, Vitality came out on top of a convincing 2-0 affair.

Date	Matches
BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2024
03/08/2024	Vitality 15:50 Astralis	Match

Meanwhile, Falcons have dropped to the Fall Showdown, where they will fight among 14 other teams for just two spots at the Fall Final.

Their second loss to Astralis was significantly more competitive than the first, in no small part thanks to Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif.

The 26-year-old put on a masterclass on Dust2, recording his highest-rated map in Counter-Strike 2 (1.85). A 27-4 score in their 16 round wins spoke volumes of the massive impact Magisk had, carrying his team to an overtime victory with multi-kill after multi-kill, including a quad-kill in the first and this ace in the second pistol round.

Astralis replied with a battering on Ancient, a 13-1 scoreline making their intentions clear as the series headed to a deciding Nuke.

There, the favorites continued where they left off to start. Falcons made some of their quick approaches work to make it a competitive affair at first, with Magisk once again at the helm, finding some crucial entries.

But Astralis ended up running away with it after a key round eight went their way, with device and Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr turning a 3v5 around, and Falcons were too far to make it back from there when they also lost the second pistol. More of Magisk's brilliance didn't do them any good, as the advantages he found with more openings did not get converted, and Astralis ran out victors 13-9.