One of the hottest confrontations in the IEM Dallas 2025 lower bracket final : European Qualifier is Astralis vs. HEROIC. These are two giants of the Danish scene who know each other well. But this time, much more is at stake: the winner gets a ticket to the main tournament, and the loser is eliminated. Astralis and HEROIC have already met over the past six months, and HEROIC won 2:0. Will Astralis manage to take revenge, or will HEROIC prove their superiority again? The decisive Bo3 match will determine the fate of the teams.

Current form of the teams

Astralis

Recently, Astralis has been showing unstable results. At the PGL Cluj-Napoca 2025, they have already defeated BIG (2-0 ) and MIBR (2-1), but lost to Team Falcons (1-2). In general, in previous tournaments, they were also not characterized by stability: 9-12th place at IEM Katowice 2025 and 9-16th place at BLAST Bounty Spring 2025. They also defeated SAW (2-0) but lost to paiN (1-2).

HEROIC

HEROIC is also going through a difficult period. They confidently defeated Metizport (2-0 ) and BIG (2-1), but unexpectedly lost to 3DMAX (1-2). In addition, they defeated Zero Tenacity (2-0), but were defeated by Parivision (0-2). However, the results against big clubs are poor, the team has not yet found its game and style, so it still needs time to adapt.

Map Pool

Astralis

Astralis ' best maps are Train (67% winrate ) and Inferno (61% winrate) and Nuke (60%). They also have decent results on Ancient (50% winrate), but this map is not always stable for them. At the same time, the team has big problems with Mirage (33% winrate ) and Dust2 (33% winrate), which can create difficulties in this matchup.

HEROIC

HEROIC 's strongest maps are Mirage (75% winrate ) and Anubis (57% winrate), and they also have acceptable results on Dust2 (52% winrate). The worst maps are Nuke (42% winrate ) and Train(0% winrate), so if the match comes down to these maps, Astralis may have an advantage.

The expected set of maps in Bo3: Nuke, Ancient, Mirage

Match Prediction

This match promises to be as intense as possible, as a ticket to IEM Dallas 2025 is at stake. Astralis has a chance to take revenge for their previous defeat, especially if they win Inferno and prepare well for the decider map. However, HEROIC look more stable on key maps and have a better mappool for this matchup, but have a worse form against top teams.

Prediction: 2-1 in favor of Astralis.

Astralis and HEROIC are two top Danish teams that have been fighting for hegemony in the region for years. The last head-to-head match between them ended 2-0 in favor of HEROIC, which might give them some confidence going into this match. However, Astralis will be desperate to prove that they can still compete with the best.

Who will get a chance to compete at IEM Dallas 2025 and who will be left behind? We will get the answer very soon!