Astralis were an unknown quantity coming into the major, but once they set off to their winning ways, they pushed the streak up to the Finals as they completely blew Avangar out of the water. With a 16-6 victory on Inferno followed by a 16-5 victory on Dust 2, later being the pick for the losing side Avangar. Dev1ce was the highest rated player coming into the game, utility usage was more than on point for them so to say.
First map Inferno a pick for the Danes went in their favor, GG. Bet odds heavily favoring them. Astralis were quickly on board with their first round which came close as Sanji killed 3 players on retake but dev1ce was quick to shut it down with a follow up 2k. Sanji’s MP9 was a constant threat Astralis had to face by losing several fights to him on many occasions, Dupreeh was put up to task in a post plant situation when he had Avangar players creeping upto him from all directions but he managed to hold himself in the graveyard position to win a 1v3, taking Astralis 8-0 up. AdreN the most experienced player in Avangar stepped up and delivered a 4k from the quad position to secure the first round for them. Astralis took a deagle eco but shots landed on point as they opened the A bombsite and they took advantage and went 9-1 up with a few guns recovered. They had a phenomenal T side on a CT sided map, tactical pushes for information and smartly using own utilities to bait the same out of the CTs were a strong point they focused on to finish the first half 12-3. Much wasn’t left in the playbook for Avangar to make a comeback on Inferno aka the Astralis stronghold. Surprisingly Avangar won the following pistol round to take one round and make it 12-4 but Astralis were back on board with a force buy and their supreme utility usage created enough room for the SMGs to get the crucial opening kills. Avangar only managed two rounds after it and the Danes took the map with a 16-6 score line.
The following map was Dust 2 which has yielded fantastic results for Avangar, but yet again Astralis started the map with a stunning 4k from dev1ce to completely shut Avangar. The first gun round of the map went in favor of Avangar as dev1ce was caught with his back turned and the Kazakh side weren’t shy to take the opportunity, but their joy and weapons were taken away by a force buy from Astralis to re-establish their lead, the round was close enough that only a few players surviving force Astralis resulting in a poor economic condition for their side despite having a massive lead ahead of Avangar. They were back on the board once again with a fleet of player swarming into the A site from long and short complemented by smokes and flashbangs to make it 7-2 from a 7-1 score line. But momentum swayed back once again in favor of the Danes as dev1ce delivered a stunning 3k to end the first half 11-4 in favor of Astralis. Avangar crowd was put to mute at this point but once again seemed to have found their voice when Sanji answered back with a clever flank to take the pistol round after losing 2 men early on. That was the last smile for Avangar players today as it was all Astralis post pistol round to take home Dust 2 with a 16-5 score line alongside the series.
This wasn’t much of a David vs Goliath as SPUNJ predicted but yet an exciting match but seemed to be a frag movie for the Astralis guys. Dev1ce rightfully named the MVP of the major as he took home his 4th.
