Two best-of-one matches were on the menu for the main squad today, who ended up winning both matches against Ex-Thunderflash and Preasy, meaning they're 2-0 in the Swiss System.
blameF: - We're hungry to prove ourselves after a rough start last year [with the new lineup].
The first obstacle on the road to the European RMR was the Polish squad, Ex-Thunderflash. In a best-of-one opening match, they battled on Ancient, a familiar map for the Danes.
The Polish squad started the match the best by winning the first three rounds in a row, but as soon as the Danes got the first round, they were locked in. The defensive performance was brilliant afterward, winning eight consecutive rounds in a row and ending the first half 8-4.
Once again, Ex-Thunderflash got a great start but couldn't do anything against the Danes' attacking side. Benjamin "blameF" Bremer's troops won the match 13-7, particularly thanks to many first kills, as Astralis had 15 entry frags versus five from Ex-Thunderflash.
The ninth-best player in the world in 2023, according to HLTV, Martin "stavn" Lund, proved why he's among the best as he shot 24 enemies and achieved a marvelous 1.92 rating in the 13-7 victory!
Mateusz 'TOAO' Zawistowski from Ex-Thunderflash might have found his new arch-enemy as the Danish captain, blameF, won 7 duels out of eight between the two, five of them being first kills.
Likewise, Wojciech 'bajmi' Strzelczyk struggled against stavn, who won eight out of nine duels between the two.
An impactful round from the 21-year-old rifler, stavn.
In the next Swiss round, teams who won their first match will face each other and are chosen due to seeding, meaning blameF & Co. had to face another Danish squad, Preasy, consisting of two former Astralis players, Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen, and Alexander "Altekz" Givskov.
The pistol round went the way of Preasy, but the players in blue quickly responded. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz secured the ACE in round 3 with the MP9, and the 11th-best player in the world in 2023, according to HLTV, continued this excellent performance as he achieved 13 frags while leading 8-1.
In round 11, Preasy got control of the A-site, but they weren't aware of Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard, who came as a surprise towards Heaven. The first half ended 10-2 in favor of dev1ce & Co.
The opponents started their CT side well by winning four consecutive rounds, but the streak was broken by a Ramp play called by blameF. Ultimately, blameF's crew triumphed 13-6 on Nuke with dev1ce as the match MVP.
The AWP'er gained 21 frags, but only four of them were with the AWP. Simultainously he reached a fantastic 1.75 rating across Nuke.
After day one in the European Closed Qualifier B, the two best players are stavn, with a 1.62 rating and dev1ce with a 1.56 rating across two maps.
The 28-year-old AWP'er crushed Preasy in round 3, securing the ACE in the end.
Sneaking behind enemy lines is stavn, who found two players unaware of his position.
jabbi is grabbing a kill while jumping away from the ladder and continuing with a grenade frag to help the team win the round.
blameF joined the casters at Astralis Watch for an interview after defeating Preasy and discussed the tournament preparation.
- We've had plenty of practice days, and we've been bootcamping as well. We also used the CGW Invitational to practice some strategies and try some new stuff before playing in this closed qualifier - Benjamin "blameF" Bremer
When asked about the overall vibes on the team, the IGL had this to say:
- I can definitely feel that I'm playing alongside excellent players, who all have an opinion about how they would like to play their positions and how the rounds should be played.
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