Astralis are through to the semi-final of the Roobet Cup after coming out on top of a two-map series against forZe, kicking things off with an extremely one-sided battering on Mirage before being forced to recover from a substantial deficit on Nuke, coming all the way back from a 4-13 deficit to win the map in double overtime.
The loss ends forZe‘s run in the tournament, where they had topped their group after beating Outsiders and 9z in series play. For Astralis, competition is about to ramp up as they will next take on FaZe on Wednesday at 19:00 for a spot in the grand final, a much tougher test than the teams they have beaten in the event thus far.
blameF secured crucial opening kills and multi-kills throughout the series
It was a blowout that marked the start of the series, forZe falling completely flat on their own map pick of Mirage as Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander‘s side put up an impenetrable defense. Advantageous rounds for the Russian side were few and far between as Benjamin “blameF” Bremer took control to grant his team a 13-2 lead at halftime, and insult was added to injury as a pistol win had Astralis up 15-2 following the side swap.
An admirable effort from Aleksandr “KENSI” Gurkin and Andrey “Jerry” Mekhryakov helped make the scoreline look slightly more respectable, but the deficit was far too immense for them to overcome as Astralis wasted little time in closing things out.
The complete opposite scenario unfolded on Nuke, although it remained a tale of CT side dominance. This time the battering was helmed by Aleksandr “zorte” Zagodyrenko and forZe as they completely outclassed Astralis with an 11-1 start, the Danish team unable to find a solution to the stalwart defenses from Jerry‘s men. It was only toward the end of the half that Astralis finally found an opening, giving themselves a lifeline in their own CT effort by winning the last three rounds.
Those few rounds proved crucial for Astralis in the second half as forZe secured victory in the second pistol round, converting against the ensuing eco round to sit upon a 13-4 lead. It was a grueling comeback effort that Astralis would have to mount, but it was one they proved capable of, winning ten of the next eleven rounds to tie up the scoreline at 14-14. A ramp rush with pistols from forZe nearly threw the whole effort from Astralis into jeopardy though, earning the Russian side match point first, but the Danes managed to force overtime before coming out on top in the second set of extra rounds to take the series in two maps.
