Astralis secure IEM Cologne 2023 groups spot
Astralis are headed to the Group Stages of IEM Cologne 2023 after they took down Apeks 2-1. Astralis were staring at defeat in the series decider but it was their in-game leader blameF stepping up when needed most and it saw them through.
Astralis kicked things off on the T side of their pick of Overpass. After picking up the pistol and the conversions against the eco and force buy thanks to a couple of crucial multi-kills from device, the first gun round was a clean wrap up from the Danes as well as blameF cleaned up from Connector with a double. A Buzz triple saw Astralis keep their lead clean at 6-0. A STYKO double opener along with a CacaNito double on the MP9 saw Apeks put up their first round on round eight. Apeks made it seven in a row to tie the game as they not only were winning rounds but kept Astralis' economy in check, with the Danes having planted the bomb only once in the seven round streak. Astralis ended the half with their eighth as device came in with a crucial double on a mixed buy.
Source: ESL
Astralis picked up both the pistols and a Buzz triple on the MP9 against the eco from Apeks saw Astralis put up 10. Apeks' first T round came on an upgraded pistol buy which included a solitary kill on the A site. Apeks made it two in a row but Astralis answered back on a full eco to maintain a three-round lead. A device and Buzz double saw Astralis secure 14 and the Danes closed their map pick at 16-10.
A kyxsan triple saw Apeks pick up the pistol on their pick of Anubis, starting on the CT side. Astralis responded with a force buy and went on to build a four round lead at 5-1 before Apeks got their second CT round. Apeks made it three in a row before the Danes got their sixth. Astralis turned around a 3v5 as Staehr and device put the Danes on seven. A device 1v2 on a round which saw Astralis purchase nothing else saw the Danes win out the half and it was a 9-6 lead.
Apeks made it two out of two pistols on Anubis and converted against the eco and the first gun round to tie the game at 9-9. Apeks made it seven in a row to take the lead at 13-9 before the Danes put up their first defensive round. Apeks though didn't drop anymore rounds as they closed out the map 16-10. It was kyxsan on top of the scoreboard for Apeks on Anubis with 25 kills and a 94.7 ADR.
The decider got underway on Ancient with Astralis beginning on the CT side. It was a clean pistol from Apeks and it was a 4-0 start before the Danes got their first defensive round. Apeks were steam-rolling Astralis before a device quad kill helped Astralis salvage the half at 6-9.
Apeks picked up the final pistol of the series and were 11-6 up before both teams brought out the guns. Astralis picked up the first gun round but a CacaNito ace saw Apeks back on the board. A blameF 1v2 saw Astralis pick up their ninth and the Danes used that to get it to a two-round game. It was another CacaNito multi-kill at Cave that put Apeks on 14. A STYKO quad put Apeks on match point. Astralis and blameF though weren't in a mood to give up as they pulled four in a row to take the game to overtime.
Astralis picked up the first round of overtime as blameF out called Apeks on both sides of the map. A Staehr double opener saw the Danes secure 17 and they ended the first half of overtime at 17-16.
The Danes picked up the map point once they switched sides in overtime and a Buzz triple saw Astralis pick up Ancient 19-16 and head to the group stages of IEM Cologne. While CacaNito ended on top of the scoreboard on Ancient with 30 kills, for Astralis it was their leader, blameF who was leading from the front with 27 kills.
AstralisApeks| Astralis |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer |
59 - 51 | +8 | 80.8 | 72.4% | 1.20 |
| Nicolai 'device' Reedtz |
59 - 49 | +10 | 68.6 | 73.6% | 1.11 |
| Victor 'Staehr' Staehr |
55 - 60 | -5 | 75.8 | 74.7% | 1.03 |
| Johannes 'b0RUP' Borup |
51 - 57 | -6 | 68.3 | 80.5% | 1.00 |
| Christian 'Buzz' Andersen |
58 - 55 | +3 | 63.9 | 70.1% | 0.98 |
| Apeks |
K - D | +/- | ADR | KAST | Rating 2.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Aleksandar 'CacaNito' Kjulukoski |
67 - 59 | +8 | 74.8 | 70.1% | 1.12 |
 Joakim 'jkaem' Myrbostad |
54 - 64 | -10 | 77.2 | 62.1% | 0.99 |
 Martin 'STYKO' Styk |
52 - 56 | -4 | 71.1 | 69.0% | 0.93 |
 Tim 'nawwk' Jonasson |
47 - 51 | -4 | 60.5 | 71.3% | 0.92 |
| Damjan 'kyxsan' Stoilkovski |
48 - 56 | -8 | 64.0 | 70.1% | 0.91 |
Also read
