Astralis demolish NIP to qualify for Fall Final

A lackluster showing by r1nkle allowed Astralis to cruise to victory.

Astralis have defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas in a two-map series (Mirage 13-6, Inferno 13-5) to secure their spot at the BLAST Premier Fall Final held in Copenhagen.

"We played really well, and NIP are probably a better team than they showed today," Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz said in a post-match interview. "It's been a decent tournament. We had some really good moments against Vitality, even though we lost. We're happy to get the season started."

Astralis' victory was made much easier by a substandard series by Artem "⁠r1nkle⁠" Moroz. The Ukrainian AWPer averaged a 0.62 rating across the series and was ineffective on the AWP, finding only four kills with the Big Green.

Despite their one-sided elimination, Richard "⁠Xizt⁠" Landström was proud of his team's achievements in Copenhagen. "We can't get too greedy with how good we want to be results-wise. We're facing really good teams and have some young players, so we just need a bit of time and experience."

The teams met in the play-in after coming second in their respective groups, with Astralis bested by Vitality, while Ninjas in Pyjamas couldn't get the better of G2.

The series began on Mirage, where the Danes breezed to a 13-6 victory despite losing to a near-full eco in the second half. The Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard (1.78 rating) and Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund (1.57) duo was simply too much to handle for Alejandro "⁠alex⁠" Masanet and company, who were visibly second-best on their map pick.

Clip: Staehr wins 1vs3

Inferno was an even worse map for Ninjas in Pyjamas, as they could only post five rounds despite winning both pistols. The team, which seemed like a mere shadow of the one that defeated FaZe two days ago, struggled to perform and ended their campaign in Copenhagen on a sour note.