Astralis and Monte advance to Group Stage of IEM Cologne 2023

The emotions of the IEM Cologne 2023 continue, and we have that; the previous day, we had a day full of really interesting and exciting matches. In addition, we had a few surprises regarding results, but we enjoyed the qualification of Monte and Astralis to the Group Stage.

The first surprise was Monte’s 2-1 victory over FURIA. This new FURIA lineup seemed well-composed and ready to turn their situation around this season. However, the team could not beat Monte, one of the season’s surprise teams, and will now have to play for their lives in the Lower Bracket. On the other hand, in a very fair series, Astralis defeated Apeks to secure their place in the Group Stage of the IEM Cologne 2023.

Let’s see what happened on the previous day of the IEM Cologne 2023 without further ado.

Astralis suffer but beat Apeks 2-1

Undoubtedly, we were expecting a balanced match, and we got it. In this series, Apeks and Astralis showed all their cards, and the Danish squad prevailed to take the 2-1 victory. Now, Astralis secure their qualification to the tournament’s Group Stage, while Apeks will play for their lives against OG in the Lower Bracket.

It all started in Overpass, where we saw an extremely balanced match, especially in the first half, where Astralis showed great play on their T-side to take a partial victory by 8-7. Then, at the change of sides, Apeks could not do much on their T-side and lost by 10-16.

On the second map, Anubis, Apeks showed why they selected it as their map pick, as they looked very good, especially on their T-side. It all started with Astralis taking a big hit on the table in the first half with a 9-6 partial win. However, when the sides switched sides, Apeks woke up under Damjan “kyxsan” Stoilkovski, who led his team to win 10 of the 11 rounds to take a solid 16-10 victory and even the series 1-1.

Finally, the teams met in Ancient, where we witnessed an extremely intense match from start to finish. In the first half, Apeks took a 9-6 partial victory on their side T. Then, at the change of sides, Astralis hit back and paid with the same coin, as, with an excellent performance by Benjamin “blameF” Bremer, they managed to even the score at 15-15. Finally, after an Overtime, Astralis took the victory by 19-16, thus securing their ticket to the Group Stage.

.@AstralisCS fend off @apeksgg to lock in their spot in the #IEM Cologne Group Stage 👀

16-10 Overpass
10-16 Anubis
19-16 Ancient pic.twitter.com/AOSrXeSiE2

— Intel® Extreme Masters (@IEM) July 27, 2023

Monte surprise FURIA and qualify for the Group Stage

Everyone on the scene expected FURIA to have no trouble overcoming Monte in this series. However, the Ukrainian squad continued to reaffirm their excellent level of play and pulled off an excellent surprise to qualify for the Group Stage. In addition, it is also worth noting that Monte gets this victory without Mohammad “BOROS” Malhas, who was their main star in the first six months of the season.

It all started on Mirage, Monte’s map pick, where the Ukrainian squad started to show great play by winning seven rounds in the first half on their side T. Then, at the change of sides, Viktor “sdy” Orudzhev and Alexander “br0” Bro avoided each of FURIA’s attacks to lead Monte to a 16-3 victory.

In the second map, Overpass, FURIA woke up and completely overwhelmed the Ukrainians. The Brazilian squad had an exceptional start to the map on their T-side, led by one of the new additions, Marcelo “chelo” Cespedes. As a result, FURIA won the first half with a solid score of 10-5. Then, in the second half, the Brazilians prevented Monte from winning a round and tied the series 1-1 thanks to a 16-5 victory.

Finally, Monte closed the series on a high note in Ancient, where they hit back quickly to qualify for the Group Stage of the IEM Cologne 2023. Monte scored an excellent 9-6 victory on their CT side in the first half. Volodymyr “Woro2k” Veletniuk had an outstanding game and, in the second half, led the Ukrainian squad to a solid 16-7 victory to send FURIA to the Lower Bracket.

It is done! @Monte_Esports are the ones to take down @FURIA with a 2-1 victory! 🔥🔥

16-13 Mirage
5-16 Overpass
16-7 Ancient#IEM pic.twitter. com/0iypK9KXQE

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) July 27, 2023

Header: ESL