B8 qualify for Austin, consign Astralis to fifth consecutive Major absence

The Danes let slip an 11-6 lead on the deciding map in disastrous fashion.

B8 have qualified for BLAST.tv Austin Major by winning the Europe MRQ with a 2-1 victory over Astralis, getting the job done on Mirage (13-10) and Ancient (16-14) either side of a loss on Inferno (7-13). With this win, B8 have qualified for Stage 1 of BLAST.tv Austin Major.

Mirage began with B8 winning their T-side pistol and converting to put themselves on the front foot, only for Astralis to take control once their economy was in order. The Danes largely dealt with B8's heavy reliance on contact plays, in no small part due to Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard's fragging efforts, but the Ukrainian side stole away enough rounds to ensure a 6-6 score at the half.

Astralis seemed set to run away with the map after an imperious start to their own offense, winning three on the bounce to start the half, but Daniil "⁠headtr1ck⁠" Valitov's Scout granted B8 a round on a bad buy, which turned the tides of the map. B8 went on to win seven of the next eight rounds, standing fast in the face of a varied T side, to secure their map pick.

Mirage began as a chaotic and brawly affair, with the first half being played largely with force-buys rather than gun vs. gun rounds. Astralis won their offensive pistol, only for B8 to answer back with a force-buy. The Danes then opted to force four rounds in a row, succeeding on the fourth attempt with a disastrous half looming. Astralis thus crept into the lead, with jabbi's success lurking Apartments a key factor, only for B8 to bag the final two of the half to claim a tied scoreline.

Astralis completely took over the map on their defense, bouncing back from a pistol loss with a force-buy win and never looking back. B8's attack lacked depth, they were either read with ease or melted trying to enter bombsites through utility, and as such Astralis secured a decider with ease.

stavn aces B8, but still loses the round

The first half of Ancient was another case of B8 hanging on despite Astralis seeming the better side. Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz was in fine form on Astralis' defense, putting B8's one-dimensional T side under real pressure, but the likes of Artem "⁠kensizor⁠" Kapran and headtr1ck found just enough success with their entry frags to keep the scores close.

Astralis romped to a commanding lead 11-6 early on their T side, winning four of the first five rounds as B8 were in danger of finishing the series with a whimper. The Ukrainians rallied, every single player stepping up to produce a miraculous comeback to 12-11, only for Astralis to claw their way to OT with an A execute.

Destiny seemed to be set against Astralis in OT. The Danes gave up opening frags time and time again, Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund got an ace but still lost the round, and Alexey "⁠alex666⁠" Yarmoshchuk won a 1v3 in the final round of the map to eliminate Astralis and send B8 to the Major.

alex666 1v3 sends B8 to the Major

Astralis miss fifth Major in a row

There are no two ways about it, this result is an absolute disaster for Astralis. From winning four Majors across the most dominant era in CS history, to now missing five Majors on the bounce.

Astralis have spent plenty of cash and cycled through a plethora of Danish talent in their attempt to remedy their woes and return to Majors once again, but nothing has worked.

They've tried utilizing young talents like Christian "⁠Buzz⁠" Andersen and Alexander "⁠Altekz⁠" Givskov, established names like Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer and Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke, and even recreating the previously successful HEROIC core with Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller, jabbi, and stavn, but failed each and every time.

At this point, it's difficult to see what Astralis can do moving forward. There isn't anywhere to turn in the Danish talent pool, and the financial blow of missing so many Majors must be enormous.

B8 win five series in a row to achieve a Major berth at fourth time of asking

Four times B8 have attended either an RMR or, in this case, an MRQ, and they have finally reached the promise land after coming so close in previous efforts.

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headtr1ck and npl seek to lift B8's RMR curse

With Artem "⁠r1nkle⁠" Moroz among their number, they exited the IEM Road to Rio Europe RMR with a 2-3 record, and fell in the Last Chance Qualifier for BLAST.tv Paris Major. Having rebuilt the squad, they were in good form and in good stead to qualify for Perfect World Shanghai Major, but collapsed horribly and went 0-3 in the RMR.

Now, finally, B8 have gotten the job done and will follow in Passion UA's footsteps by representing Ukraine as a full national team at a Major.

It wasn't always pretty. The Ukrainians had to recover from an 0-2 start in this RMR and win five series in a row, and they produced some woeful T side rounds throughout this series, but the squad stepped up magnificently with their backs against the wall in the decider, eventually securing a deserved Major berth.