Staehr on Astralis' second-map struggles: "I don't know if it's a mental barrier"

Staehr struggled to identify the reason for Astralis' second-map collapses in their defeats in Bucharest.

Astralis have endured a rough start to their campaign at PGL Masters Bucharest, slipping to a 1-2 record to put themselves on the brink of elimination in the group stage. Their singular win came against an MIBR side sporting a stand-in.

Their current predicament has come about partly as a result of second-map collapses in their defeats at the hands of B8 and Legacy, a trend that has left Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr scratching his head.

"I actually don't know, I have no clue," Staehr admitted when posed the question as to why his team were struggling in the second maps of their series. "It must be some mental thing with a tough loss, where you feel like you should've won or you could've won at least, that you need to reset faster for the next game."

With his team's tournament life now on the line, Staehr spoke to HLTV to give his thoughts on their run in Bucharest, his own recent form, and what Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif has brought to the team since his return.

Listen to the full interview here.

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Unfortunately you just lost 0-2 to Legacy and are now in the 1-2 bracket here at the PGL Masters Bucharest 2025. What happened from your perspective? It felt like it was quite competitive at the start, but then map two didn't really click.

I should address both maps. I think on Inferno we had good chances, solid chances. I think on the T side they got two lucky — well, not lucky, but they got two smoke spam kills through the Top Car smoke, which was a little bit unfortunate for us. But other than that, I think we had a decent CT side at least and we played pretty well, we could've won some more rounds.

On the T-side we took some good control, but we sometimes just couldn't close the late rounds. Then I also think they had a game plan to play with three on B a lot, which was a little rough to play against because we like to play for Banana control, so it was well played by them. They won Inferno, which was a bit sad for us, but we still had high hopes for Nuke, because it's one of our good maps. We think so, at least [laughs].

Then they just steamrolled us I feel like. We didn't make the small plans and do the good plays together on the T-side, you know? It was more like, uhm… I don't know. Our Nuke is either very, very good or a tough watch, so to say. We got only one CT round where we had a full buy, which I think is our strong side on Nuke, the CT buy rounds. That's just a tough one, if we don't get those rounds, then it's over.

There seems to be a bit of a recurring theme for you so far at this event: you lose the first map in overtime, and then the second is a complete blowout. It happened against both B8 and Legacy. Obviously you did 2-0 MIBR, but you seem to be starting games well and then turn into a completely different team on map two. Why is that happening?

Hmm, I actually didn't think about that. I also didn't realize that happened against B8, but now that you say it... I actually don't know, I have no clue. I don't know if it's a mental barrier, I didn't think about it at all, I don't think any of the guys did, I don't think any of the guys knew that this also happened against B8 with the overtime and then getting crushed. But I don't know, it must be some mental thing with a tough loss, where you feel like you should've won or you could've won at least, that you need to reset faster for the next game. But I have no clue, I can't answer that. I'm not sure.

From your perspective, does it feel like the team's mentality is solid throughout the entire best-of-three? Even when things are not going your way?

I think so, that's why I can't say what the problem is. I think we still give the same energy, we still give the same comms as we always do, or at least we try to do it. Yeah, it doesn't feel like we're off in any way in-game, so I can't tell actually.

You have been getting a little bit more freedom since HooXi arrived but now it feels like things have changed a bit on the CT-side, and you're not getting engaged in that many opening fights anymore. Are you trying to switch things up to try and get out of the tough form that you have been in lately?

It just depends on the map, like on Nuke I'm the Ramp player. I think the ramp player is just a rotation player, like plays on information; sometimes he goes down, sometimes he comes under Heaven, sometimes he just plays as an anchor, right? So it's not really that I don't get to do it, if I want to do a play on Ramp I can say it, but that's not how we are playing right now.

On Inferno as well, it's only if you get the B fight early, that you actually go for the entries right? So I think it was just two very team-based maps today, which just means that I couldn't go for the entries. I'm still playing Connector on Mirage going first in the Mid fights, Ancient CT Mid, so it's just the maps I would say, at least for today. It's not like we changed anything up specifically for that matter.

Lastly, how are you feeling about Magisk's addition now that you've played with him for a couple of months? Do you feel like he provides the necessary stability, and do you feel like with that stability, you're gonna be able to turn things around here in Bucharest?

I hope so! I think he comes in with a lot of qualities, especially when we're talking theory on the server, talking about the game. I think he has some good takes and some good thoughts about how he wants to play a site or how we should execute or whatever. Different things which he tried throughout time and he knows what's probably one of the best things to do. And he also still hits hard, even though he was on the bench in Falcons for a couple of months. That's amazing to see, it's good.