
In the opening round of group B at IEM Cologne, Astralis managed to conquer FaZe Clan. The Danish powerhouse took the series in two close maps.
The series kicked off on FaZe’s pick of Dust II, but it was Astralis who seemed best prepared. The Danes, spearheaded by a strong showing of magisk, quickly took a 7-0 lead. With FaZe warming up towards the latter part of the half, we saw a more competitive game, but FaZe never managed to recover their early losses.
After switching sides, the scenario got flipped, and FaZe looked like the stronger team. But despite twistzz’s heroics – he followed the tournament’s trend with yet another ace- Astralis’ lead was too big to overcome.
Nuke was a close game, with both teams showing a strong CT side. This continued on in the unavoidable overtime. After close to 50 rounds, Astralis finally managed to edge out FaZe, securing the map, series, and a spot in the upper bracket.
In the final series of the opening round, two teams who rose to prominence during the online era faced off against each other. Spirit and Heroic took it all the way to the third map, Ancient, by both stealing their opponent’s map pick.
On Ancient, Heroic completed the Danish success, as they beat Spirit after two overtimes.
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