Astralis seal their ticket to the BLAST Premier Fall Finals

Rebirth of one of the greats? We are seeing the return of that powerful Danish team wanting to take over the CS:GO competitive scene again. After playing an irregular BLAST Premier Fall Groups, this new Astralis lineup achieved excellent victories against Complexity Gaming and Team Liquid to secure their ticket to the Fall Finals.

Undoubtedly, this news should be a great joy to the entire Counter-Strike community. Astralis is one of the most successful teams in the game’s history, and they have been missing for several seasons. However, after a very slow start to the tournament, the Danes woke up in the Play-In Phase and got the coveted ticket to the Fall Finals.

On the other hand, it is also worth noting that G2 Esports advanced to Round 2 of the Play-In Phase after suffering unexpectedly against the North American squad Evil Geniuses.

Let’s look at what happened the previous day in the BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2023 without further ado.

Astralis apply a clean sweep against Team Liquid

Undoubtedly, many in the community, including the BLAST talent panel, were placing Team Liquid as favorites to win this match. However, Astralis’ determination proved that they are on a high level and that their victory over Complexity was no coincidence. As a result, they managed to seal their victory thanks to an excellent clean sweep.

It all started in Overpass, Astralis’ map pick, where we saw a balanced match in the first half and decanted for the Danes in the second half. The first half had as protagonist the young Danish promise Victor “Staehr” Staehr, who was responsible for Astralis to win 8 rounds on his side T. Then, at the change of sides, Johannes “b0RUP” Borup and Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz dressed as heroes to prevent Team Liquid’s offensives and thus take the victory by 16-11.

Then, in the second map, Inferno, things started the same way as in Overpass, but with the difference that Team Liquid took the partial victory by 8-7 on their T side. However, Astralis woke up thanks to Benjamin “blameF” Bremer and dev1ce, to give a 9-1 beating in the second half and thus take the victory by 16-9.

They’re not missing Royal Arena this year, as @AstralisCS takes down @TeamLiquidCS in convincing fashion 👏#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/dGuqYln1wG

— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) July 22, 2023

G2 Esports suffer but get the win over Evil Geniuses

The North American squad, Evil Geniuses, came close to pulling off a very pleasant surprise in this Fall Groups, as they had five chances to win the series. However, G2 Esports brought out all their experience and individual talent to take the victory and continue alive in the tournament.

It all started in Inferno, the map pick of Evil Geniuses, where G2 Esports was always really impressive. The first half ended with a comfortable 11-4 partial score in favor of G2, which they completed with a 3-5 in the second half to take the victory by 16-7.

Then, in the second map, Nuke, the EG boys woke up and surprised everyone on the scene, as they got an excellent victory to even the series 1-1. In the first half, Paytyn “junior” Johnson and Timothy “autimatic” Ta repelled all G2 attacks to lead EG to a 10-5 partial victory. Then, at the change of sides, G2 woke up and managed to get 13-15 on the scoreboard, but it was not enough, and they ended up falling by 13-16.

Finally, EG almost put the icing on the cake in Mirage, after showing a spectacular level of play, especially from Colby “Walco” Walsh. The first half ended with a tight 8-7 score in favor of EG. However, in the second half, the North Americans took a 15-10 lead on the scoreboard, meaning they had five chances to settle the series. However, G2 Esports showed all its potential to equalize the map 15-15, send it to Overtime and take the victory by 19-15.

It got real scary but @G2esports drags the victory home in the end, GG!#BLASTPremier pic.twitter.com/LJPOeRdJ55

— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) July 22, 2023

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