Astralis claimed their third Major title after winning IEM Katowice 2019. The Danes had a convincing win over ENCE.
If there was any doubt about Astralis’ strength in terms of their world No. 1 ranking in CS:GO, all of these doubts would have been cleared up early Monday morning. ENCE, the team in the Majors for the first time, faces Astralis, the Danish giants looking for a third title for themselves. ENCE showed that they can make this dream come true, having defeated Liquid and Natus Vincere before, with miraculous comebacks, unfortunately this new problem is too difficult for them.
It’s all come down to this moment…
The #IEM Katowice Major GRAND FINAL is LIVE!@ence with. @astralisgg
They start the BO3 on Train NOW! GET IN HERE! ??https://t.co/fTBRGvbUbv pic.twitter.com/HWQwwQFlUG
— Intel®ExtremeMasters (@IEM) March 3, 2019
Convincing victory at Train – a map that ENCE has not lost since EPICENTER 2018 – marked a series completely tilted to one side. Inferno is the arena of Astralis when they completely “beat” the opponent, bringing their unbeaten record on this map to 15-0.
Entering Train, the Finns had the second worst pistol round record of round 16, but they broke through Astralis’ defense with ease in the first round. After losing to eco, Astralis responded convincingly in the first round.
It marked the overwhelming journey of Astralis, not giving the T-side any breathing room. Towards the end of the half, Astralis lost only two rounds, temporarily leading 11-4.
.@ence get the start to the second half they needed ?
They take both pistol rounds on Train #IEM pic.twitter.com/5uzhFR0H8b
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) March 3, 2019
Now, going to CT, ENCE found a way to live by narrowly winning the pistol round. Astralis’ first round on the gun didn’t work, but the half-buy bet was successful and helped T score himself.
Astralis took advantage of that and increased the lead to 14-7, but couldn’t reach the map point when sergej 1v2 clutch was successful, taking advantage of a communication error from the opponent. ENCE used a double AWP and shortened the score to 11-14.
It seemed like this was another comeback, but the ENCE army broke up in the 26th round. Xyp9x ended the map with a 1v2 clutch, and became the player with the highest rating of the map, reaching 1.52.
A 1v2 clutch from @Xyp9x secures us the first map in the #IEM Grand Finals ?
JUST ONE MORE MAP WIN TO GO!!#ToTheStars pic.twitter.com/h0uV4eU2Ne
— Astralis (@astralisgg) March 3, 2019
Inferno is off to a great start for the Danish giants. Winning the pistol round, Astralis swept through the opponent’s defense to lead 6-0, forcing Aleksib to call a timeout to adjust.
After the tactical pause, ENCE almost got their first round win, but Astralis responded in a 2vs4 situation, continuing to put pressure on the opponent.
ENCE finally got their first round win in the 11th round of the match, but Astralis continued to push the pace of the game to finish 14-1.
?? IEM KATOWICE MAJOR CHAMPIONS ??@dupreehCSGO @gla1ve_csgo @MagiskCS @Xyp9x @dev1ce @zonic_cs #ToTheStars pic.twitter.com/v53mA6QvI7
— Astralis (@astralisgg) March 3, 2019
Switching sides, ENCE won the first pistol round and the next two rounds, but their efforts were futile after that. Astralis counterattacked as soon as the money was available and fixed a convincing victory. IEM Katowice 2019 brings the team’s number of Majors to the same level as fnatic.
IEM Katowice 2019 rankings of the teams:
first. Astralis – $500,000 + Legends Title
2. ENCE – $150,000 + Legends Title
3-4. Natus Vincere – $70,000 + Legends Title
3-4. MIBR – $70,000 + Legends Title
5-8. FaZe – $35,000 + Legends Title
5-8. Liquid – $35,000 + Legends Title
5-8. Renegades – $35,000 + Legends Title
5-8. NiP – $35,000 + Legends Title
9-11. Cloud9 – $8,750 + Challengers Title
9-11. AVANGAR – $8,750 + Challengers Title
9-11. Vitality – $8,750 + Challengers Title
12-14. compLexity – $8,750 + Challengers title
12-14. HellRaisers – $8,750 + Challengers Title
12-14. G2 – $8,750 + Challengers title
15-16. NRG – $8,750
15-16. BIG – $8,750
According to HLTV
Source link: CSGO: Astralis beat ENCE 2-0, won IEM Katowice and claimed her third Major title
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