Astralis Takes Commanding Victory at IEM Katowice

Video Courtesy of ESL

Road to Finals

This past weekend saw the end of IEM Katowice, one of the first major tournaments for the game Counter-strike: Global Offensive. Astralis Gaming, the Danish team entering had been going through the bracket and was the projected favorite to win it all after a strong 2018 year. The past year Astralis went to win two of four major events and while strong, looked do the impossible, win two majors in a row. Astralis was also recovering from a major emotional loss as a few days before the event player Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen lost his father. Rasmussen’s wish was for his son to go to Katowice and win it all, and the team rallied behind the younger Rasmussen vowing to claim the title for his father. Through the bracket that week, Astralis was showing their dominance that started last year was not fading as they did not lose a single game heading to the finals.

On the other side of bracket, team ENCE was looking to be knocked out of tournament early. On their side were the number 2 and 3 ranked teams globally, Team Liquid and NaVi. ENCE eSports did not go down without a fight. Their match against Team Liquid was a stunning win with ENCE taking it in a 2-0. The next opponent would be NaVi, and while the set would be closer, ENCE won 2-1. Suddenly ENCE eSports, the Finnish team that could, was winning the hearts of fans and becoming the underdog that people were rooting for and setting up for a Cinderella story run through bracket.

Grand Finals

As the teams were heading into the Spodek Arena to play on the final day of IEM Katowice, both were greeted with a sold out and energetic crowd. ENCE eSports was greeted to a large part of the crowd cheering and singing “EZ4ENCE” as they prepared for their biggest opponent. Astralis meanwhile was looking at a potential perfect bracket with no game losses. Both teams prepared for potential Cinderella story endings, hoping to be the one on top.

While Train was a close battle, Inferno would be the opposite. Astralis ran full speed ahead. Without losing a single round yet, Astralis would be in high spirits as they started to coast. Round 11 saw ENCE start a comeback, but the score eventually ran to 15-4 in Astralis’s favor. The crowd, still in ENCE’s corner kept the cheers coming hoping for overtime. Astralis, would still dominate and very quickly take the win to become the champions in IEM Katowice.

For ENCE, it was bittersweet as while they went to Finals, were crushed. Leaving Katowice, ENCE looks to work hard and win their first major tournament.

What Next?

Astralis has now done something not done since 2016, winning two majors back to back. As of now Astralis is the number 1 ranked team in the world for Counter-Strike. For Dupreeh, the win was more than another trophy. He would dedicate the win to his father, tearing up on stage. So far Astralis looks to continue the run as other teams are now looking to catch up to the dominating organization.

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