Astralis defeated Faze Clan yesterday 2-0 in the super series to book their place into the Grand Finals of ESL One: Road to Rio 2020.
The Danes proceed to yet another Grand Finals and continue to be consistent even in the most competitive era of the game. It had been observed by the analysts at desk that Astralis just jump to another level after reaching the playoffs and opposing teams have to give more than 100% to have a chance at defeating them, unfortunately which Faze couldn’t do.
Faze picked Dust II, Astralis selected Inferno as their pick and Nuke was left as the decider.
Faze were undefeated on the Road to Rio so far, but they knew they had to be at their best to to maintain that record and progress to the finals. They therefore picked map which could be won single handedly on aim, Dust II. Both the teams traded blows in the first half but it was Faze who looked like they had answers to counter the Danes style of play. The half ended 8-7 in Faze’s favor. Winning the half lead many to believe that Faze could counter Danes all the way and pick up the map.
But it wasn’t to be, Astralis played very logically by not going into 50-50 retakes and were able to manage the CT economy. They pounced when Faze played over aggressively and build the CT economy. They reached map point first with the score at 15-11. Faze were almost down and out, but a 1 v 4 clutch from “broky” reinvigorated some hopes but that too wouldn’t last for long. Astralis converted the next round itself winning 16-12 on Faze’s pick. It was “dupreeh” who was back in form after some inconsistent performances to lay the platform for Astralis to win.
Inferno was a one-sided affair to say the least. Astralis started on the T side and never allowed Faze to take control or push them back in a stacked site. Faze’s individuals won them 5 rounds but they in reality they lacked the precision which Astralis had. The half ended with 10-5 scoreline in the Danes favor. While “NiKo’ was hitting some crisp one taps, Faze wasn’t able to convert them into round victories. Astralis won 16-7 and end Faze’s unbeaten record in the competition. It was again “dupreeh” who was instrumental in Astralis’s victory.
The Danes now proceed to the grand finals where they will start with a 1 map advantage and will either face Faze or G2.
Note:- The Rio major was scheduled to take place in May 2020 but due to the ongoing pandemic the major was shifted to November 2020. The prize pool of first Major will be added to the November Major. ESL on its part have decided to host three qualification rounds in order for teams to remain at their peak. Each qualifying stage will have Regional Major Points(RMR) which will be added to determine the qualification order. Each qualifying stage will have a prize pool of $255,000 divided across the six regions. To read more about this, click here.
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