MIBR rally after tech issues to beat Astralis

The Danes reached round 24 on both maps but lost out to the Brazilians in a messy series full of anti-eco fumbles.

MIBR have set up an upper bracket shootout with 3DMAX after dispatching of Astralis in Katowice.

The Brazilians needed to prove themselves after beginning 2025 with a last-placed finish at BLAST Bounty and came into the server with a renewed focus.

Astralis led 5-1 early on Mirage after a nice Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund 1v3 clutch, but MIBR showed the mental fortitude not only to come back, but to remain strong amidst a clutch of technical issues.

Map one, a 16-12 win for MIBR, ended up lasting one hour and 47 minutes with crashes affecting Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz early on before several pauses were called for Felipe "⁠insani⁠" Yuji's PC.

"Mirage was a mental game because of my PC crashing," insani said on broadcast. "Everyone had to wait a long time for the game to finish."

"It was an eco game," he added, pointing to key force buy wins on Mirage and Ancient that included this Lucas "⁠Lucaozy⁠" Neves 1v2 clutch.

It was not just anti-ecos that held Astralis back, however, with insani saying they had a "good read" on their CT side to remain one step ahead.

One notable round included a weak A fake from Astralis, where André "⁠drop⁠" Abreu and Lucaozy remained planted on the B site to take the win with ease.

That round came at a crucial time, as 10-8 rapidly turned into 11-13 to send Astralis to the lower bracket for a bout with FlyQuest.

device goes quiet as Astralis' firepower flounders

No Danish players made it into the top 20 last year, and it is a valid question to ask now: Do Astralis have a firepower problem?

stavn, the team's star on paper, had a great Mirage with impact around every corner but the other four players offered nothing.

After a great comeback online in Bounty, the now 29-year-old device ends his LAN comeback with a 0.82 rating.

Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr will always do well considering his roles but his good games, like he had on Ancient, are rarely enough to win matches. Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard was HEROIC's x-factor but is far too fickle in this jersey.

It's a difficult problem to solve, with the transfer market an unlikely option given the region's dearth of proven talent.

In a server with insani, the mechanical gap is made even more stark. Astralis' round wins came from brainpower, little reads or Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller's macro calls on both sides. 50-50 duels were MIBR's domain.

In the lower bracket against FlyQuest, that cannot happen for device and company.

Can BIT stop MIBR's hot-and-cold cycle?

MIBR's potential was laid out for all to see in their semi-final run at ESL Pro League.

With Lucaozy, despite a role conflict, they should have only improved after such a big firepower upgrade.

But the question with the team has always been one around consistency.

The team started the year with a tame defeat at the hands of FlyQuest, but the MIBR we saw against Astralis is one capable of dealing real damage.

Bruno "⁠BIT⁠" Fukuda Lima, promoted back to head coach in January, needs to make sure it's the second MIBR we see more often.