Astralis seemed, having made it to four consecutive semifinals, that everything was perfect, starting with IEM Chengdu and ending with YaLLa Compass. But the BLAST Spring Final was a cold shower for them, with the team only picking up one win against SAW, who were considered outsiders.
Road to the top and sudden decline
After the appointment of Nicolai "device" Reedtz as IGL, the team showed great results, reaching the semifinals in four consecutive tournaments. Cybersports analysts predicted that Astralis would continue to dominate, but the last tournament before the summer break saw a setback. The team lost to strong opponents and barely got by SAW. The summer break offered hope for a recovery, but unfortunately the team's form only worsened after the rest.
After the break, Astralis defeated Ninjas in Pyjamas in the BLAST qualifiers but soon ran into trouble in Cologne where they suffered an early defeat. After losing their match against G2 Martin "stavn" Lund admitted that the team needed to "go back to the drawing board".
Tough defeats and hope for a revival
In an interview with HLTV after the 2-1 loss to G2, Martin "stavn" Lund shared his thoughts on the match, especially noting the disappointing Dust2 map where the team lost 19 of the first 21 rounds of the series. It was Astralis' choice and they were hoping for success, however, losing in the pistol round played a part. "At Dust2 we were just screwed, to be honest. It was our map choice and we thought it was going to be a punishing choice, but honestly we lost the pistol and that's how it is," said stavn.
The only ray of hope was the Mirage's map camber. Astralis showed great play on the T side, which allowed them to turn the tide of the match and regain their confidence. "The one good thing to take out of this series is the comeback on Mirage. We had a very good game plan for Mirage, we followed it and believed we could come back"
G2's actions and Astralis' response
G2 showed confidence with their play, and at some points it even seemed unnecessary. For example, a knife kill in the first round on Mirage could be seen as disrespectful. "When they pull out knives, it's certainly disrespectful, you know?" commented stavn.
The problems on the Ancient map continued for Astralis, where they lost control of the situation. The strong play of their opponent in the mid was depriving Astralis of the typical control of this part of the map. "MalbsMd played very well in the mid and deprived us of typical mid control, so it was tough"
Team mood and future plans
Noting that the team has not been able to find their rhythm after the break, stavn said that right now, in his opinion, Astralis is not at the level they would like to be at. "This game against G2 and also the game against NAVI are teams we want to compete with. They are top teams, title contenders and we want to be there too, but we haven't shown that we are there yet."
Astralis are preparing for the rest of the season, with important tournaments such as Pro League, BLAST Fall Final, RMR and Major awaiting them. "It's certainly tough right now, but we need to look forward. Cologne is an important tournament, but the most important thing is the Major"
The importance of revisiting strategy
The defeat in Cologne showed Astralis that they need to go back to basics and rethink their strategy. Despite the difficulties, the team has every chance to return to the top, and the upcoming tournaments will be an opportunity for them to prove their worth on the global cybersport arena.
Source: HLTV
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