Complexity eliminate Astralis from EPL

The American team came out ahead in numerous clutch rounds on the Nuke decider to edge out victory.

Complexity have kept themselves alive at ESL Pro League Season 20 following a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Astralis in Group C's Last Chance Stage (13-10 Vertigo, 6-13 Inferno, 16-14 Nuke).

Johnny "⁠JT⁠" Theodosiou's troops have slowly played themselves into form in Malta after falling to M80 in their opener, beating Astralis and MOUZ 2-0 in the lower bracket, but still showed their inconsistency after missing a chance to make the playoffs following a 1-2 loss to BIG.

A repeat victory over Astralis earns the American-majority side one final chance to advance as they take on MOUZ in a rematch on Sunday.

Date	Matches
ESL Pro League Season 20
15/09/2024	MOUZ 13:30 Complexity	Match

Astralis played Complexity close in their first match in the lower bracket, losing in overtime on both maps, and did one better in the last-chance series by dominating on Inferno to tie the score at 1-1.

Clip: Complexity win an eco to hit map point

However, lost eco rounds and messy late-round situations on Vertigo and Nuke made clear that the Danes still have a wealth of issues and have yet to find a winning formula with their roster and with Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz as in-game leader, and they bow out of Pro League with only a victory over Rooster to their name.

Astralis had a flat start to Complexity's Vertigo pick to start the series, allowing JT to set the pace on the attack and run up a 6-1 lead. The Danes showed signs of life at the end of the first half and nearly tied the score after winning the second pistol, but a Håkon "⁠hallzerk⁠" Fjærli 1v3 kept Complexity in the lead and every close late-round went COL's way to help them edge out a 13-10 win.

Clip: hallzerk 1v3 keeps Vertigo in COL's control

Complexity were entirely outclassed on Inferno, a four-round run on the CT side offering little salvation against an unrelenting Astralis. A bounce back on the Nuke decider, good for an 8-4 half, set COL up for a quick victory, but Astralis recovered with a strong defense of their own in the second half.

They crumbled when it mattered most, however, losing an eco to let Complexity hit series point, and despite forcing overtime lost out in two out of three clutch rounds to have their tournament run ended.