Posts

,

NaVi vs Astralis At ESL Pro League Season 17

It’s misery for the fans of Astralis and Natus Vincere as their teams have been relegated to the mid bracket of ESL Pro League Season 17. Instead of these two, it’s actually ENCE and Forze at the playoffs from group D. But before, NaVi and Astralis even think of making it to the playoffs, they have to get rid of the other. Find out how the series turned out of NaVi vs Astralis.

NaVi vs Astralis

Rosters

Natus Vincere

  • Oleksandr ‘s1mple‘ Kostyljev
  • Denis ‘electroNic‘ Sharipov
  • Ilya ‘Perfecto‘ Zalutskiy
  • Valerij ‘b1t‘ Vakhovsjkyj
  • Andrij ‘npl‘ Kukharsjkyj

Astralis

  • Andreas ‘Xyp9x‘ Højsleth
  • Lukas ‘gla1ve‘ Rossander
  • Benjamin ‘blameF‘ Bremer
  • Nicolai ‘dev1ce‘ Reedtz
  • Christian ‘Buzz‘ Andersen

Map Picks & Bans

  • Astralis removed Anubis
  • Natus Vincere removed Vertigo
  • Astralis picked Ancient
  • Natus Vincere picked Overpass
  • Astralis removed Mirage
  • Natus Vincere removed Nuke
  • Inferno was left over

The Series

Map 1 (Ancient)

Ancient was the first map of the group D NaVi vs Astralis series. Astralis started off their map pick just the way they wanted. It was blameF who was taking frag after from at the start of the first half. They won the first three rounds straight but NaVi responded right after with three rounds of their own. The first half kept going back and forth like this but eventually ended up in favor of Astralis as the scoreboard read 9-6. On attack, NaVi simply bounced back. They picked up eight rounds straight without even flinching for a second- much of the credit going to electroNic and Perfecto. NaVi soon wrapped up Ancient 16-11 in their favor despite being down two rounds in the first half.

Map 2 (Overpass)

It was now time to play on the map pick of Natus Vincere. Astralis started off their opponents’ map pick their way by winning the two pistol rounds. NaVi soon responded by picking up two rounds of their own, thus leveling the score. However, what followed later was total annihilation by Astralis. Astralis then went on to win… not one, not two, not even six but eleven rounds at one go. They made NaVi look disoriented and helpless throughout the first half. NaVi didn’t even get the plant down on four different rounds in the first half. The first half ended 13-2 in favor of Astralis. There was not a lot to witness in the second half. Astralis just needed three more rounds and they picked it up within four rounds. The map scores were leveled as Astralis won the second map 16-3.

Map 3 (Inferno)

It was now time for the deciding map- Inferno. Astralis yet again started off the map their way by not only winning the pistols but following it up with two more rounds. NaVi responded but only for a while as they won two rounds. Three more rounds were picked up Astralis as they looked to widen the gap. A shift in momentum then took place as NaVi tried their level best to reduce the gap in the first half. It ended 8-7 in favor of Astralis. The second half started with NaVi putting their game faces on as they won four straight rounds. While Astralis did try their level best to put a stop to the NaVi show, it was too little, too late. Thanks to s1mple and electroNic, they brawled their way into picking up the map 16-12.

Not all hopes are lost for Astralis, however. They have now been relegated to the last chance bracket. It’s a different story for Natus Vincere, however. They will be facing Rare Atom tonight for a chance at moving into the mid bracket final. It will surely be an interesting sight to watch as the two teams clash later on tonight.

 

/by
,

Group C Leaderboard of ESL Pro League Season 16

With Valorant Champions 2022 wrapped up, our focus is now shifted to all the other major esports tournaments that are taking place around the world. No, we did not forget about CS:GO at all which is why today we’re covering ESL Pro League Season 16. Group C has now finally been wrapped up, so let’s take a look at who’s qualified for the ESL Pro League playoffs!

ESL Pro League Group C

5 days was all it took to wrap up the entire action of Group C. As expected, there was no lack of action as the group composed of both top dogs as well as underdogs.

Who qualified?

MOUZ topped the leaderboard of Group C winning 4 out of their 5 matches. Their only loss came against Astralis who even failed to qualify. Since they’re in 1st place, they have directly qualified for the quarterfinals. Heroic and Complexity are the other two teams joining MOUZ at the playoffs. However, they have only advanced to the round of 12 and not the quarterfinals yet.

Agony for Astralis

For the 4-time Major winning Danish team, this was a tournament they’d love to forget. Astralis could not replicate even an inch of the performance they had portrayed in the years of 2018 and 2019.

Astralis started the tournament off on the wrong foot losing 1-2 to Complexity on day 1 of Group C at ESL. A 2-0 clean win against table-toppers MOUZ revived hopes but quickly withered away losing 1-2 to HEET. There was some hope of qualifying as they won against ENCE the next day but a loss to Heroic sent them back home. Their loss to HEET surely cost them a spot at the playoffs which is even more sad considering that HEET finished at the very bottom.

Even worse news for Astralis is that k0nfig suffered a complicated ankle fracture, the organization announced on social media today. Coming off the bench, their reserve, Mikkel “MistR” Thomsen, will be included in the main roster. MistR will be in the main squad for the upcoming RMR.

/by
,

Astralis to face NAVI at IEM Cologne 2022 SemiFinals-1

Cologne has witnessed the best teams from across the world clash to win the Masters. With the competition at its final stages, few remain to become a victor. We now finally have our first pair of semi-finalists with Astralis facing NAVI today.

Team Astralis

Astralis has always been one of the most fierce teams in the Counter-Strike world. The pride of Denmark- Astralis has picked up multiple titles, the last notable one being the BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019. While 2018 and 2019 served as their prime years, Astralis is still a force to be reckoned with. They surely have proved so with their current run at IEM Cologne 2022.

Astralis Roster

  • Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander (IGL)
  • Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth
  • Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke
  • Benjamin “blameF” Bremer
  • Asger “farlig” Jensen
  • Martin “trace” Heldt

Astralis team overview | HLTV.org

Astralis’ Run at IEM Cologne 2022

Astralis was one of the 16 Play-In teams that made it thanks to their ESL World Ranking. Following a Bo3 format, the first opponents to face Astralis at the lower bracket were Complexity and BIG. Both Complexity and the winners of the 2022 Roobet Cup lost to the Danish squad. Placed in Group B, Astralis faced some big, big names of the Counter-Strike scene. In round 1 of the upper bracket, Astralis clean sweeped FURIA Esports. They went on to do the same to Cloud9 in round 2 of the upper bracket. Their first loss came against FaZe Clan in the following round. While FaZe directly proceeded to the semi-finals of the competition, Astralis faced MOUZ (formerly known as mousesports) in the quarter-finals.

Astralis vs MOUZ

MOUZ was not at all expected to make it this far at IEM Cologne 2022. But they did. They beat the likes of Heroic, Team Vitality and Ninjas in Pyjamas to name a few. With new recruits torzsi and JDC, MOUZ gave Astralis a run for their money. MOUZ started off strong winning their pick of Mirage 16-8. Astralis took Nuke as their first pick and they leveled the series 1-1 winning 16-9. Ancient was the decider and Astralis just clinched it 16-12 ending what can be considered as a dream run for MOUZ. While Astralis have done a good job at taking care of Mouz, their biggest challenge yet awaits- NAVI.

Natus Vincere

NAVI has proven many times in recent years that they will destroy anyone that comes their way. Before we look into what may be in store for us, here’s how NAVI is lining up this Major:

  • Denis “electroNic” Sharipov
  • Oleksandr “s1mple”Kostyliev
  • Ilya “Perfecto” Zalutskiy
  • Valerii “b1t” Vakhovskyi
  • Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev

Astralis vs. NAVI Preview

 

Astralis vs. Natus Vincere will be taking place at 19:30 ALMT today. It will be streamed live on Twitch right from Cologne. Since 2020, the teams have faced each other a total of 11 times. Astralis has only won thrice out of those 11 matches. NAVI has a win rate of 70% in the last 30 days while Astralis has won 62% of their matches. So, the odds are heavily in favor of Natus Vincere.

 

 

/by