Heroic continued its winning ways in the ESL Pro League Season 14. The CadiaN-led Danes defeated their local rivals, Astralis, 2-0 to eliminate Dupreeh and co. from the tournament. With a 5-0 score, Heroic tops Group A and secures a spot in the ESL Pro League quarterfinals. Astralis found an early exit from the tournament […]
Heroic continued its winning ways in the ESL Pro League Season 14. The CadiaN-led Danes defeated their local rivals, Astralis, 2-0 to eliminate Dupreeh and co. from the tournament.
With a 5-0 score, Heroic tops Group A and secures a spot in the ESL Pro League quarterfinals. Astralis found an early exit from the tournament after failing to make the top three in Group A.
Astralis picked Inferno as the first map, Heroic went with Vertigo. Overpass was the final map of the series.
Inferno - Refrezh dominates Astralis
Heroic were off to a fantastic start winning the first eight rounds without breaking much of a sweat. The first few rounds included an ace by Ismail "refrezh" Ali that set the tone for the rest of the series. The 23-year-old rifler was responsible for holding off mid and the A bombsite in general. He had some quick rotations to the B bombsite as and when required.
Astralis managed to claw back five rounds in the first half of Inferno. But the team had a lackluster CT side and there was no stopping Heroic once they got the economy advantage going. Heroic won Inferno, which was Astralis’ map choice, with a 16-8 score.
Vertigo - The same score and Astralis is out of the tournament
Astralis won the pistol round on Vertigo, but the story was pretty much the same for the rest of the map. Heroic took control on the T-side, finishing the first half with a 9-6 score. Vertigo can often seem like a T-sided map; however, for Astralis, they could not find any form on their T-side. Heroic stopped Astralis in its tracks, winning the map with a 16-8 score.
Refrezh and CadiaN dominate the Danish derby
Casper "cadiaN" Møller and Refrezh were instrumental in Heroic’s dominance over their local opponents. Refrezh finished the series with 44 kills and also dealt the most damage in the series.
CadiaN opened up bombsites and got eight entry frags, the highest in the game. He also got 21 kills with the AWP, instilling fear of his positioning and the AWP in his opponents.
With a 0.92 and 0.85 KPR (Kills per round), Refrezh and CadiaN were responsible for most of Astralis’ players’ deaths. The Astralis players fared poorly compared to this duo’s statistics.
The future of Astralis
The future of Astralis’ CS:GO roster has been under scrutiny in the past few weeks. After Device left for NiP, and with the contracts of many players coming to an end, Astralis might see some drastic roster changes. That being said, the Danish organization already signed Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander to a three-year contract. The team also signed a relatively inexperienced player in Lucky to its main roster.
With a deadline on the longevity of the current roster, it is not surprising to see the lack of cohesion and synergy amongst the players. With some of the best CS:GO players in the world on its roster, Astralis can always surprise fans with stellar performances. The Danish team has failed to make an impression in 2021, reaching the top four in only two tournaments so far.
Heroic, Team Vitality and ENCE are the three teams that qualify for the playoffs after a stressful group stage. Heroic qualifies directly to the quarterfinals, while Vitality and ENCE will have to compete in the round of 12.
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