Astralis claim first ESL Pro League Stage 2 win over FaZe

Astralis have claimed their first victory in the second stage of ESL Pro League Season 11 Europe after beating FaZe in the third round.

The two teams had both been sitting at a 0-2 record ahead of the start of the match, which put serious implications on their chances to secure the all-important top-three finish by the end of the group stage.

While the Danes have kept their hopes alive with a 2-0 victory against FaZe, the European side now have a 0-3 record and not only need to win both of their remaining matches against Natus Vincere and OG but also rely heavily on other teams' results, which could still put them in a tiebreaking scenario.

Astralis take down FaZe in the battle for provisional last place

You could be forgiven for thinking Nuke would be a walk in the park for Astralis when the Danes started off their opponent's pick up 8-1 on the CT side, but it ended up being far from that as FaZe found an avenue back in the opening map on the back of Helvijs "⁠broky⁠" Saukants's 1v1 clutch, which helped them turn things around and pick up five rounds in the first half.

With a pistol round going their way, soon the scoreline was almost level, and even though Astralis managed to speed away and grab a 14-10 lead, FaZe still held on and took it to overtime. There, the two teams went back and forth until it was decided in the last round, in which a well-placed grenade by Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz sent Marcelo "⁠coldzera⁠" David flying in a 1v1 clutch.

When it came to Overpass, the Danish powerhouse was in complete control from the start and never let go. FaZe only mustered three rounds on the defense, and when a second-round forcebuy spearheaded by Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth's Scout quad-kill went Astralis' way, their fate was sealed.

ESL Pro League Season 11 EuropeBest of 3 FaZeMatchpage 0 2 7th April 2020 Astralis 17Nuke 19 4Overpass 16

FaZe	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Nikola 'NiKo' KovačNiKo	44 - 41	+3	82.8	1.05
Håvard 'rain' Nygaardrain	38 - 40	-2	78.3	1.04
Olof 'olofmeister' Kajbjerolofmeister	30 - 34	-4	63.2	0.88
Marcelo 'coldzera' Davidcoldzera	30 - 39	-9	63.3	0.86
Helvijs 'broky' Saukantsbroky	27 - 34	-7	50.6	0.79

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethXyp9x	39 - 33	+6	84.5	1.22
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	41 - 37	+4	70.2	1.20
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	44 - 33	+11	72.6	1.18
Nicolai 'device' Reedtzdevice	36 - 33	+3	72.1	1.07
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossandergla1ve	28 - 33	-5	59.3	1.00

Below are the second stage's standings after three rounds of play:

Group A TEAM M P MOUZ 3 9 fnatic 3 6 Natus Vincere 3 6 Astralis 3 3 OG 3 3 FaZe 3 0 Marcelo 'coldzera' David Age: 25 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.19 Maps played: 1143 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.61 fnatic #5 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistJesper 'JW' WecksellFreddy 'KRIMZ' JohanssonMaikil 'Golden' SelimLudvig 'Brollan' Brolin Andreas 'Samuelsson' Samuelsson Helvijs 'broky' Saukants Age: 19 Team: FaZe Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 311 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.62 MOUZ #4 Finn 'karrigan' AndersenChris 'chrisJ' de JongÖzgür 'woxic' EkerDavid 'frozen' ČerňanskýRobin 'ropz' Kool Allan 'Rejin' Petersen Nicolai 'device' Reedtz Age: 24 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 1461 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.62 Astralis #2 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif OG #14 Nathan 'NBK-' SchmittValdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenIssa 'ISSAA' MuradMateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewski Casper 'ruggah' Due FaZe #9 Olof 'olofmeister' KajbjerNikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' NygaardMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidHelvijs 'broky' Saukants Janko 'YNk' Paunović Natus Vincere #1 Egor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' SharipovKirill 'Boombl4' MikhailovIlya 'Perfecto' Zalutskiy FaZe #9 Olof 'olofmeister' KajbjerNikola 'NiKo' KovačHåvard 'rain' NygaardMarcelo 'coldzera' DavidHelvijs 'broky' Saukants Astralis #2 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Danny 'zonic' Sørensen Natus Vincere #1 Egor 'flamie' VasilyevOleksandr 's1mple' KostylievDenis 'electroNic' SharipovKirill 'Boombl4' MikhailovIlya 'Perfecto' Zalutskiy Andrey 'B1ad3' Gorodenskiy Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth Age: 24 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1638 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.61 OG #14 Nathan 'NBK-' SchmittValdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenIssa 'ISSAA' MuradMateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewski