EPL EU Grand Finals: Astralis Complete the Reverse-Sweep!

Natus Vincere were so incredibly close to victory. But Astralis did what they do best – insane Counter-Strike! In a perfect reverse sweep, they got up from an 0-2 deficit, secured the 3-2 win and were winners of ESL Pro League EU Season 12.

The NaVi players already entered the Grand Finals with a map advantage, coming from the Upper Bracket. On their pick, Dust2, they got into the game perfectly. At one point, they lead on an 9-2 scoreline and only through some incredibly close rounds, Astralis managed to mount a 6-9 half still. But on their T side, they were lost and confused, which cost them a couple of rounds. Denis “electronic” Sharipov and Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev secured the 16-12 for their team, which meant that they were only one map victory away from snatching the EPL trophy.

THE PERFECT REVERSE SWEEP

On Nuke, it looked as though NaVi would soon end the match. With a 9-6 in the first half, they had already built up a buffer, which they managed to extend to an 12-6 by winning the second pistol round. But the Astralis CT side was watertight. They took off with the rounds and gave NaVi no chance to succeed. Suddenly, they held the 15-14 as s1mple and Nicolai “device” Reedtz were in a 1v1 scenario. As device shot the last bullet, the 16-14 was cemented and the match transitioned over to Train.

The map pick of Natus Vincere was dominated by s1mple, who tried his best to keep his team alive throughout the game. But Patrick “es3tag” Hansen, who had shown great form during their EPL matches on Train, got going as well. The Danes secured a 12-3 half on their CT side and looked to tie the score for the Grand Finals. But their T side was so incredibly weak that s1mple dragged his team all the way to overtime. There, the two sides pulled equal at 18-18 again, after which es3tag and company finally brought it home on a 22-19 scoreline.

After Natus Vincere had achieved the 2-0 map lead and had stood with a 12-6 lead on the third map, the game was now level again, and Astralis had the opportunity to turn this match around. On Overpass, they entered their own pick as well, which gave them even more of an edge over NaVi. On their T side, they got right to work and amassed an 11-4 lead at halftime. Their CT side, however, was riddled with issues, as electronic in particular managed to exploit their overextension and uncalculated aggression. Round after round went to the NaVi camp, until device and his colleagues finally got their act together. At the end, s1mple was in a 1v2 clutch and couldn’t win out. Astralis ended this encounter with a 16-11 and achieved a perfect reverse sweep, which we haven’t had in CS:GO for quite a while now.

ASTRALIS: THE BEST EUROPEAN TEAM?

This match goes to show one thing in particular: Astralis boast insane discipline and mental fortitude. To be down 0-2, and to then win 16-14 games and overtimes… most teams would probably have broken down at one point or another. Additionally, s1mple and electronic played out of their minds. But still, the Danish teamwork prevailed, which is a testimony to the great integration of es3tag into this roster.

But this one match doesn’t suffice to speak of European dominance just yet. For one, they have just recently lost games to Heroic. Even more, their matches versus mousesports and NaVi were so incredibly close that one failed clutch could have completely altered the end results.

So the race for the European crown remains wide open. On Tuesday, we’re right back with IEM New York, in which – amongst others – FaZe, BIG, Vitality, G2 Esports, and OG will fight for the trophy. In the North American division, we will see Evil Geniuses, Liquid, Chaos and FURIA duke it out.