Astralis qualify for the ESL Pro League S18 playoffs

The ESL Pro League S18 Group A actions continue. After another day of matches, Astralis got an excellent victory over FURIA Esports by 2-0 to seal their ticket to the tournament playoffs.

There is no doubt that this was an expected result, considering the level of play of both teams in recent tournaments. In addition, there is also the fact that FURIA has not yet displayed its full potential after making the change in its lineup.

Astralis joins Team Vitality and Movistar Riders, who, although they have yet to define the first place in Group A, already have their tickets for the EPL S18 playoffs. On the other hand, this defeat does not mean that the Brazilians are out of the tournament since, let’s remember that in the EPL, teams have up to 3 chances to stay alive. As a result, FURIA will have to beat Grayhound Gaming and GamerLegion for the second time in this tournament to be the fourth and last qualifier of Group A for the Playoffs.

Without further ado, let’s see what happened in the match between Astralis and FURIA in the semifinals of the ESL Pro League S18 Mid Bracket.

Astralis annihilate FURIA Esports 2-0

While it is true that both teams had worked very hard to get to this point, there is no doubt that we all expected a victory for Astralis. However, in this kind of tournament, anything can happen, and many of us also had some hope that FURIA could give a pleasant surprise. However, the Danish squad did not allow FURIA to display their full potential and took a solid 2-0 victory.

It all started in Overpass, Astralis’ map pick, where the Danish squad was always far superior to the Brazilians. In the first half, with Astralis on the T-side, Benjamin “blameF” Bremer was in charge of wreaking havoc with FURIA’s defense to lead Astralis to a partial victory by 11-4. Then, at the change of sides, FURIA tried to wake up, and they won the first 3 rounds to put the map by 11-7. However, this remained there, as Astralis won the next five rounds to take the victory by 16-7.

The teams then moved to Nuke, the favorite map pick of the Brazilian squad, where, although we had a much more balanced match, the Danes came out on top to take the victory.

In the first half, Astralis was determined to take a partial victory by 9-6, but we know that this map is much more favorable to the TC, so we imagined a comeback of FURIA. Then, at the change of sides, the Brazilian squad started extremely well and managed to win 7 of the first 8 rounds and thus put the score 13-10 in their favor. However, Astralis deciphered FURIA’s defense and managed to win all the next 6 rounds to take the victory by 16-13.

Astralis qualify for ESL Pro League S18 Playoffs

As a result, Astralis sealed their ticket to the ESL Pro League S18 playoffs. Whereas, FURIA will have to play for their lives in the Lower Bracket and win two games if they want to play in the playoff party.

.@AstralisCS manage to close it out 2-0 against @FURIA after a close second map ⚔

16-7 Overpass
16-13 Nuke#ESLProLeague pic.twitter.com/xou4GHi6BK

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) September 2, 2023

Header: ESL