AStralis will face the loser of FaZe and NAVI next.
Astralis survived their Group A elimination match against SAW with a 2-0 victory over the Portuguese. The Danes were a strong favorite going into the series and they have secured their spot in the playoffs. Following the elimination match, Astralis top-fragger and IGL, dev1ce spoke to esports.gg about SAW’s performance, Astralis’ approach to the game, and more.
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On SAW’s performance in the match and event
I think we played really well. Ofcourse, it is a rough tournament for them. Hopefully, it’s some good experience for them. It’s not often that they play these big tournaments but they’re a team that I think has a lot of good potential. I think both Mutiris and Aristotle are really strong players.
The series ended with a 2-0 score where SAW had 6 and 3 rounds respectively in the two maps. While their match against Astralis was below expectations, the Portuguese team did have a spectacular performance against Vitality, almost snatching a map victory in that series.
The first round on Dust 2 resulted in a 3v5 victory for SAW, a round that clearly surprised many fans and viewers. Speaking on that round and the start of the series specifically, Dev1ce said the team was simply too eager to close out the rounds.
After Round 1, I said to the guys, we’re being too eager to close the round. And maybe a bit of rough talk to some of the guys, some of the younger guys, maybe we’re chasing the kills too much. Other than that, in the pistol round also, I think it was MuTiris hitting some good shots. But yes, I think we were just too eager on Dust 2 and fixed it for Inferno.
The 28-year-old has been playing Counter-STrike for the majority of his life. His career built over several years has reached a pinnacle and he is considered to be one of the best players in the scene right now. Reflecting on the recent shift to an IGL role, dev1ce highlights what the biggest change for him as a player has been.
There’s a lot of responsibilities. I think it’s a really fun task and the biggest change is that you usually don’t have enough time to practice individually. You spend a lot of time with the coach. You look at the map and how you want to play and approach the round. That’s the biggest difference for sure.
Astralis will go on to face off against the loser of FaZe and NAVI. The team has seen steady improvements over the past few tournaments and will hope to improve their rankings after this match. The BLAST Premier Spring Finals presents an opportunity to teams to secure an invitation to the BLAST Premier World Finals later this year.
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