The Open Qualifier for the most important tournament for Astralis Women was initiated on Monday, February 12. It was a ruthless qualifier as every match is a best-of-three do-or-die because of the single elimination format.
Aurora "aurora" Lyngdal and her troops got a shaky start versus 5bites, as two maps came down to the wire. Anubis was the deciding battleground after winning the first map, Nuke, and suffering a tight defeat on Overpass. Looking at the stats, Marie "marie" Toft was outstanding on the final map, claiming 33 frags and a 1.65 K/D ratio in the 16-14 overtime victory.
Result: 2-1 vs. 5bites (13-9 on Nuke, 11-13 on Overpass, 16-14 on Anubis)
The following day in the qualifier, the next opponent awaited, named pastaenjoyers. Sadly, there was nothing to enjoy for the enemies as they were defeated 2-0 by a fueled Danish squad with marie and Isabella.
"Ismo" Ferlev both sitting at the top spot with 23 frags on different maps.
Result: 2-0 vs. pastaenjoyers (13-7 on Ancient, 13-5 on Vertigo)
The further you go, the harder it gets - especially in the open qualifiers. On Wednesday, February 14, the sharpshooters from Astralis faced the international squad, GUILD.
The fiends claimed their map pick 7-13, thanks to a well-playing Anna "Ann4" Laurinoviča. On the Danish side, Ismo was on top with 20 frags despite the map defeat.
Overpass was chosen by aurora & Co., but GUILD continued their momentum from Mirage by claiming the first five rounds. After a 4-8 half favoring GUILD, the Danes crawled back into the game as the match was tied 9-9. At this point, marie sat at a 23-9 score and continued to dominate. GUILD reached match point at 10-12 but returned and forced overtime again.
The two teams were so even on Overpass that it took three overtimes to find a winner, eventually the Danes. Josefine "josefine" Jensen and aurora closed the game by winning a 2v3 post-plant situation and triumphed 22-9. marie, Ismo, and Anja "anja" Soelberg all reached +30 frags on the second map.
Everything should be decided on Anubis, a familiar map for the Danes. GUILD got an edge as they took a slight lead at halftime, 5-7. Winning the pistol round helped GUILD reach an 11-5 score before they eventually won the map 9-13 and the match 1-2.
Result: 1-2 vs. GUILD (7-13 on Mirage, 22-19 on Overpass, 9-13 on Anubis)
Luckily, the second open qualifier is right around the corner. It starts on Friday, February 16, and is covered at Astralis Watch.
Another season of the European Pro League Division 2 has begun for the Talent squad after they placed second in the former season.
This time, they've arrived in Group B alongside fellow Danes from Espionage, the Polish players from Permitta, and the International squad, Sangal.
The first matchup was the battle between the Danes as the Talents faced Espionage and two former Astralis players, Philip "Lucky" Ewald and Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen.
The star-worn players gained a narrow lead at halftime on their map pick, Anubis, with a 7-5 score. It wasn't any different going into the second half, where both squads showed up, making it a thriller of a match as it was tied at 10-10. Unfortunately, Espionage hit hard in the final rounds and won the first map 10-13.
Despite a tight first half on the second map, Inferno, the Talents ran out of steam on the T-side of Inferno and lost the map 5-13 and, ultimately, the match 0-2.
Result: 0-2 vs. Espionage (10-13 on Anubis and 5-13 on Inferno)
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