Astralis qualify for ESL Pro League Finals; fnatic, North through to round 2

Astralis have successfully qualified for the ESL Pro League Season 10 finals, meanwhile fnatic and North proceed to the second round of the group stage.

The first series of the evening between Astralis and fnatic commenced on Inferno, where the Danes developed early CT momentum off the back of a productive pistol round. Maikil "⁠Golden⁠" Selim and his men swayed the momentum on their first full buy, assuming a single-round lead down the line. While the pace seemed steady, fnatic immensely struggled in the remaining rounds, as the offense was consistently shut down all the way to a 4-11 deficit at half time, rounded out by a quad kill from Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth.

fnatic answered their opponents' uncontested string with a fruitful pistol of their own, going in to secure the following two rounds shortly after. During the middle portion of affairs Astralis managed to successfully cull the CTs on four occasions, leading to map point on fnatic's map pick. The Swedes brought it to the wire at round 30, but lacked a single round conversion to secure overtime, instead falling at a close 14-16, made possible by another multi-kill from Xyp9x.

Train followed, where Astralis continued their successful campaign with a pistol round on the T side. A Deagle triple kill from Golden dismantled any momentum the Danes had hoped to develop, as fnatic snatched it and took a mile, all the way to a 7-3 round lead. After consecutive blows, Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander and company managed to figure out the defence, leading to an equaliser. The team was unable to assume a lead by the conclusion of the first half, as fnatic closed out 8-7.

Having switched over to the defence, Astralis found a consecutive pistol round, and despite conceding to a force buy in round 18, continued to find success, just two rounds short of a series conclusion. The offense retaliated by closing out three consecutive rounds, but another two in favour of Astralis, the latter featuring a bold 1v1 defuse from Xyp9x meant map and series point for the Danes.

The second series of the day saw North and Aristocracy fight for a second chance at advancing to the finals in Odense, kicking off on Nuke. Wiktor "⁠TaZ⁠" Wojtas and his men started off with a three-round lead, having secured the first pistol round, but once rifles were in hand for North the tides of war shifted. The Danish defence confidently stood their ground in throughout the coming eight exchanges, assuming a heft lead towards the latter stages of the half. The momentum died off slightly for the leaders, as Aristocracy were able to land a few of their own to a 6-9 deficit.

North commenced their offensive campaign with a pistol round conversion, but concede the early momentum to a force buy that saw Paweł "⁠dycha⁠" Dycha and Mikołaj "⁠mouz⁠" Karolewski cull two opponents each. This created space for the Poles to assume an 11-10 lead, but North kept things tight, equalising immediately after. Despite attempts to yank the map back into their favour, Aristocracy experienced difficulty against the offense in the final five rounds of Nuke, conceding their map pick with a 12-16 score.

Train followed, where Aristocracy found early success in the form of two consecutive CT rounds, but were unable to maintain the flawless record further, as a full buy from North saw a round accrued. In spite of a quad kill from Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye, the Poles maintained focus, and after conceding early presence found their footing in the latter stages of the half, allowing but a total of five for North at 10-5.

It was North's time to secure an early lead off the back of a pistol round, however as soon as a full buy came out for Aristocracy, the dynamic shifted. The Polish offense quickly accrued rounds, leaving little wriggle room for Nicklas "⁠gade⁠" Gade and company. After securing but one additional round, the Danes fell short on their map pick at 8-16, unable to fend off the aggressors.

Overpass was the concluding map of the series, where North landed a consecutive pistol round victory. Following in the footsteps of their early success, the Danes convincingly closed out rounds one after another, with Aristocracy struggling to breach and holt out during post-plants on the T side. Mentioned troubles persisted through, allowing North a flawless 15-0 CT half. A consecutive pistol victory for the Danes meant a perfect Overpass performance.

The final standings in Group C of ESL Pro League Season 10 Europe is as follows: