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EPL EU Playoffs: Astralis Advance Over mouz and Heroic

The Danes have certainly had a tough day. After a narrow victory over mousesports, they had to go up... Fabio | 4. October 2020

The Danes have certainly had a tough day. After a narrow victory over mousesports, they had to go up against Heroic, which they had previously lost to in the Quarter Finals. Now, they have managed to go all the way to the Grand Finals, but what are their chances of winning against Natus Vincere?

On the first map versus mouz, it looked as though Astralis would be able to take this match over with ease. In a casual 16-3 victory on Dust2, Nicolai “device” Reedtz got 20 Kills and a 1.97 Rating. David “frozen” Čerňanský got one of this career worst performances with just 5 Kills and a 0.29 rating.

But Finn “karrigan” Andersen and his mates didn’t just quietly take this beating. The in-game-leader turned this match around on Inferno and magnificently swept the Astralis players off the server. He earned himself a very unusual 1.67 rating, and alongside Robin “ropz” Kool, he ensured that, following a 16-6 win, the game went to a third map. With their CT side, Astralis were set up incredibly well. They secured a 12-3 half and were close to winning the match altogether. Instead, ropz dragged his team through a stunning CT side and mounted a comeback that brought them close to victory themselves. At 15-14 for mouz, they unfortunately lost the round and had to go to overtime. There, device and company got the win eventually.

THE HEROIC REMATCH

So mousesport could have sat in the next match just as well. But in the end, Astralis were the lucky ones and got a few hours to rest and prepare, before they met their new opponents in the Lower Bracket. Heroic were in great shape. Their star players, René “Teses” Madsen and Martin “stavn” Lund had put up some solid performances throughout the playoffs. Additionally, the team had just won over Astralis in the Opening Match.

It looked as though Heroic would repeat this performance once more. In the first half of Vertigo, they ran away with a 9-1 lead. Finally, Astralis managed to put some rounds on the board themselves and got back on their feet for a 6-9 half. On their T side, Heroic got a solid start and quickly got up to a 13-6 lead. At this point, there wasn’t much standing in the way between them and map victory. Unfortunately, they had to watch as Astralis mounted the perfect comeback for a 16-13 win.

Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen got 23 kills and only died 10 times, which made him the most effective player on the Astralis camp by quite a stretch. On the second map, the two teams pulled tight. The first Overpass half ended on an 8-7 scoreline in favor of Astralis, who wound up closing the match on their CT side. Astralis have now had their revenge over Heroic and have made their way to the Grand Finals, where Natus Vincere are sitting in wait. So what are their chances versus this team?

ASTRALIS IN A DISADVANTAGE

By default, Natus Vincere are already leading 1-0 in this Best-of-Five. Arriving from the Lower Bracket, Astralis are being sent into a deficit already and will have to win three maps to be crowned victors. NaVi only need two, which means that they can survive with a smaller map pool. So now, the question stands whether Astralis are properly prepared for this matchup. Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev and Denis “electronic” Sharipov are firing on all cylinders and the team is generally in top form. The Danes, however, have struggled and shown some weaknesses through their playoffs matches. For them, this match will be their hardest challenge in this tournament.