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DH Open Fall: Astralis Reach Upper Bracket Final

The Danes are one step away from the Grand Finals of a big tournament once more. Yesterday, they set... Fabio | 22. October 2020

The Danes are one step away from the Grand Finals of a big tournament once more. Yesterday, they set themselves on top of fnatic and are now waiting for either Vitality or BIG to challenge them.

While the duel between Astralis and fnatic went by uneventfully, NiP and FaZe went toe to toe. The Ninjas had previously lost to Vitality and were downed to the Lower Bracket, where FaZe were already waiting for them. Following some weak presentations, Marcelo “coldzera” David and the boys had to redeem themselves, which they failed to do.

The Ninjas got a strong 11-4 half on Inferno, after which FaZe stood with their backs against the wall. Helvijs “broky” Saukants struggled to get into his groove, but Håvard “rain” Nygaard kept them in the game. They were close to getting a similarly strong half and making it to overtime, but then NiP closed the map on a 16-13 scoreline.

On Overpass, things went better for Nikola “NiKo” Kovač and company, who managed to secure 9 rounds in a row. Even with a small comeback, the Ninjas only got 4 rounds in the half and were in a similarly bad spot as FaZe previously. But unlike their opponents, they got their act together. Grinding down the deficit round by round, they soon found themselves in overtime. Again, rain was on the top of the scoreboard for his team, but was overshadowed by Tim “nawwk” Jonasson. Returning from his break, the young Swede managed to prove that he is still a top talent. After long and bitter fighting, the Ninjas were victorious on a 25-22 scoreline, sending FaZe in a battle for 9th place, as this is all they will be able to achieve now at DreamHack Open Fall.

ISSAA DEMOLISHES G2

In recent weeks, the Jordanian player has proven time and time again that he deserves a spot in this top team. Issa “ISSAA” Murad faced strong opposition in the form of Kenny “KennyS” Schrub and Nemanja “nexa” Isaković, but he didn’t let that stop him from delivering top-class Counter-Strike. On Mirage, ISSAA, recorded a 1.55 rating as Aleksi “Aleksib” Jalli led his team through a solid T side. On their CT side, OG were almost invincible and secured a quick first map on a 16-9 scoreline.

Unfortunately, their Nuke defense wasn’t as watertight. Because of this, they lost some key rounds and only boasted an 8-7 lead at half-time. Usually, this isn’t enough to make it on the T side, but there, OG were especially capable. Once again, ISSAA reeled in the big kills and cracked the 30-bomb. Even the heroics of Kenny “KennyS” Schrub weren’t enough to stop him at this point. The French team failed on a 14-16 scoreline, just shy of the finishing line. OG, however, headed into the next Lower Bracket Match.

There, the Ninjas are waiting for them. Should Aleksib and company manage to win this match, then they’ll have to face fnatic – for the third time in this DreamHack Open Fall installation. At the moment, the Swedes are leading 2-0, but OG showed signs of improvement when the two last met. So maybe they’ll finally be able to leave fnatic behind.

ASTRALIS ONE STEP AWAY FROM GRAND FINALS

The Danes are really just unstoppable at this moment. Their victory run remains unbroken. While some teams manage to steal a map off of them, Astralis always come out on top in the end. This was no different in their encounter with fnatic, even though Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen really had a slump yesterday. But Nicolai “device” Reedtz took up the slack, stopping Maikil “Golden” Selim and his team right in their tracks. Apart from a surprise 16-7 win on Dust2, fnatic had no chance in this game and fell to the Lower Bracket.

Astralis are now waiting for a worthy opponent in the Upper Bracket Final. Today, BIG and Vitality will clash for that spot, as the winner will be facing Astralis. Their prospects against the best team in the world aren’t looking all too great. All signs point to yet another Grand Finals appearance for Astralis.