The best team in the history of CS:GO makes its return to the grandest of stages. Four Major championships, three in a row - noone comes close to the legacy of Astralis and their sheer dominance after “Magisk” replaced “Kjaerbye” in the middle of 2018. Even without their full “golden” core, Astralis are one of the scariest teams on the planet, especially, in the LAN setting which will come to play in Stockholm in few days.
Getting to the Major itself was not the easiest of tasks, as Astralis lost a big amount of RMR points earned in 2020 and then dealt with “device” leaving and “gla1ve” taking a break for his paternity. However a solid top-4 finish at IEM Fall Europe allowed the Danes to become the first team to qualify for the Major championship, where they will seek to continue their reign on the biggest stage.
To no surprise, Astralis’ best map is their old friend, Nuke. Once an untouchable stronghold, their Nuke became more exploitable with “device” leaving, but this is still the last map you’d like to face Astralis on, when the elimination is on the line. “gla1ve” lurking outside is a thing of nightmares, after all.
“Lucky” is going to be debuting on such a stage and while the newcomer performed admirably well during the IEM Fall Europe, PGL Major Stockholm 2021 will be a different beast. Replacing one of the best players in the history of the game is one thing, but “Lucky” is in Astralis to build his own legacy and it starts on Day 1, where he’s going to open against “nicoodoz” and Copenhagen Flames, the player and the team he has faced many times in the lesser competition on Tricked Esports.
Astralis are not a big favourite to win their fourth Major in a row with 15:1 long shot, but a playoff berth is totally in play. Team showed up in spades during both of the LAN events this season at IEM Cologne 2021 and IEM Fall Europe, finishing in top-4 both times without having their full lineup and their experience will probably guide them there as well. And then, who knows, after all we are talking about Astralis, who have not dropped a single map during the last three Major playoffs.
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