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Astralis eliminated, Gambit reach Playoffs at PGL Stockholm




We will see a different team lift the Major trophy for the first time in 3 years and 9 months. With Astralis’ loss to Vitality, the defending back-to-back-to-back Champions have been eliminated from the event.

Both teams were surprisingly knocked down to elimination point. Vitality was considered an outsider for the title coming into the event, and Astralis had more experience playing at the Major than the rest of the field combined. Getting knocked out in the Legends stage would be a disappointment for both teams.

This pressure got to Astralis, as they fell flat on their own map pick, Nuke. The Danes never looked convincing on the T-side and failed to control the game in the early stages of their defense. 16-10 brought the French ahead.

Vitality opted for Vertigo as their pick in the series. Vertigo used to be one of Astralis’ most successful maps, but they had recently failed to achieve much on the skyscraper. But the Danish powerhouse surprisingly took it anyway, albeit with the closest of margins.

The decider, Dust II, seemed to be going Vitality’s way for most of the game, but Astralis managed to make the scoreline look more competitive in the latter half of the map. But the comeback was in vain, as Vitality won a couple of crucial clutches to close out the maps and series with a 16-14 score.

Astralis bow out of the tournament in 12-14th place, and Vitality move on to the 2-2 decider tomorrow.

Gambit lock in playoff spot

Gambit has secured a spot in the top-8 at the Major. They beat hometown heroes NIP in 2-0. Russian AWPer sh1ro had a stellar performance, topping the charts with 51 kills after two maps and receiving a 1.66 rating from HLTV.

While Josse van Dessel covers a variety of topics ranging from FIFA esports competitions to professional chess matches, his greatest emphasis is on the world of Counter-Strike, where he covers the title's biggest events and its latest roster moves. Josse also covers local market news in his native Netherlands.