Astralis has secured yet another title to their list with their victory at Blast Pro Series Lisbon. The Danish squad are the current FaceIT London MAjor winners. They have also secured multiple titles since their Major victory including ESL Pro League Season 6,ECS Season 6 LAN and the IEM Chicago 2018. Their dominance in Counter-Strike is slowly carving out an unrivalled era for the team.
The Grand Finals
🏆 @astralisgg 🏆#BLASTProSeries #Lisbon pic.twitter.com/U6SE0tmuay
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) December 15, 2018
The Final series of the tournament saw Na’Vi reach the other Finals spot. While Astralis reached the Grand finals after remaining undefeated through the Group stage, Na’Vi were 3-0-2 in the Groups. They were tied with Cloud9 for the spot at the Grand Finals. Eventually, they secured the spot due to being ahead in the head-to-head matchup. Na’Vi defeated Cloud9 on Overpass 16-10.
The last Grand Final of 2018.@s1mpleO vs. @dev1ce.
The best in the world. pic.twitter.com/NSIEdt0BuG
— BLAST Premier 💥 (@BLASTPremier) December 15, 2018
The Finals saw Na’Vi take down Astralis in the first map of Overpass. S1mple and Electronic led the CIS team as they moved past Astralis in a very clinical performance. Their T side saw them never allowing the CT side to string together more than two rounds. Astralis was never able to build up a stable economy to challenge Na’Vi. Overall, it was a very good performance by Na’Vi, one that sees them slowly provide hope to their fans. Post an 11-4 first half, there was little that Astralis could do to make a comeback in that particular map.
The next two maps saw Astralis take control of the situation. Emil Magisk Reif was the MVP of the tournament after leading the Astralis side on the scoreboard. Along with Dupreeh in the third map, Magisk more than made up for the lack of performance by other members on the team. Astralis displayed excellent synergy and coordination to win the series.
Na’Vi: Held Back by their Map pool.
Unfortunately for Na’Vi, they had to win the series in just two maps. The second map in the series was Cache. The CIS team almost never plays Cache and it has been their permanent veto since quite a few years. Their reluctance to expand into this map sees them constantly put at a disadvantage when it comes to stronger teams.
With this win, Astralis cement their legacy on 2018. The team has been the most dominant team in 2018 constantly winning against their opponents. The lack of a challenge from multiple other teams is a bit disconcerting, but we hope for more challenge in 2019. Astralis will next play at the IBuyPower Masters 2019.
- Astralis – $125,000
- Natus Vincere – $50,000
- Cloud9 – $25,000
- MIBR – $15,000
- FaZe – $10,000 (+$20,000 from Stand-off)
- NiP – $5,000
