What Next For Astralis?
Plenty of CS:GO fans are gleefully sticking the knife into Astralis after their shock ECS Season 7 Finals defeat at the hands of FURIA. It marked the fourth consecutive tournament in which the Danes went home empty-handed and it brought their 14-month spell atop the HLTV world rankings to an unceremonious end. The decision to sit out a number of important tournaments appears to have backfired spectacularly, and suddenly they have gone from an invincible force to a team in crisis. But is this really the end of an era? Or are such proclamations premature?
After all, it is just three months since devi1ce, dupreeh, Xyp9x, glaqve and Magisk soared to victory at the IEM Katowice Major. That was their second consecutive major triumph and their third overall, cementing their status as the greatest team in the world. It followed a sensational 2018 that saw Astralis win 15 events, including the FACEIT London Major, and seize the Intel Grand Slam to land a $1 million bonus. They ended the year by winning seven tournaments in a row and they swatted their rivals aside in contemptuous fashion throughout the campaign.
Their success came on the back of tactical supremacy, painstaking preparation and a phenomenal system in which every member of the team has a clearly defined role. All five members can frag and they all displayed great consistency, averaging at least a 1.14 rating throughout 2018. They have a great spread of skill across their positions and their collective brilliance was enough to see them vanquish anyone that got in their way.
Astralis Wobble Gives Rivals Encouragement
They worked hard to get to the top, but they have been handsomely rewarded. These players have become millionaires through prize money alone and they are superstars in Denmark, where they are now friends with the Prime Minister. Yet their dominance grew to such an extent that some commentators started to fear people would lose interest in CS:GO.
There is now excitement among some sections of the community after their humiliating defeat at the hands of FURIA, as they feel the scene has been blown wide open again. Rivals are emboldened and Team Liquid will be particularly confident in their chances of future success after storming to the top of the world rankings.
Astralis’ first-round loss to FURIA on Nuke was shocking, as the Danes had previously been invincible on that map. Everyone expected them to exact sweet revenge two days later, but the Brazilians overwhelmed Astralis in a best-of-three showdown and set tongues wagging across the world by clinching it on Nuke once more. They displayed intensity and aggression throughout, their crosshair placement was spot-on and they never allowed the Danes to get into a rhythm. Astralis must now go away, lick their wounds, take the criticism, regroup, analyse where it went wrong, correct mistakes and come out swinging.
They have taken a great deal of flak from the CS:GO community for skipping important, prestigious tournaments like IEM Sydney, DreamHack Dallas, StarLadder season seven, and cs_summit four this year. Apart from IEM Katowice, they only attended three international events and those were all BLAST Pro Series tournaments. Astralis’ parent company, RFRSH Entertainment, also owns BLAST, and fans have accused the team of selling out.
Health is Paramount
Team manager Danny “zonic” Sorensen launched a staunch defence of his team. He said the management judges each event-based “standard of the tournament, possibilities to prepare, prestige, how the geography fits into our general travel plans, our previous results in the tournament, seeing the fans and our experience with relevant tournament organisers” before deciding whether or not to take part.
He pointed out that they skipped BLAST Pro Series, Los Angeles, to attend ESL One Cologne, adding that the mission is not to top the world rankings but to win the biggest tournaments.
He said his goal is to ensure the team are as close to 100% at every event they enter and declared that he will never jeopardize his players’ health, even if it means tumbling down the HLTV rankings.
Last year they attended 18 LANS and performed to a consistently high standard throughout. They secured a top-four finish in each event, went to 15 Grand Finals and won 12 of them. They boasted an unrivalled 88.3% win rate — NaVi were next on 67.9% and Team Liquid were on 65.8% — and they maintained a 100% record on Nuke. Yet that intense year clearly took its toll, and zonic opted for a gentler schedule this time around.
However, that strategy allows rust to set in, and it could have been a massive contributing factor in their recent poor form. Astralis is now scheduled to play in a number of LAN tournaments over the next couple of months and it will be fascinating to see how they bounce back. FURIA have made a name for themselves with their aggressive, unconventional play, but there is no reason to think Astralis is incapable of learning from that defeat.
They are unlikely to be caught out cold again. They have reinvented themselves on the fly before and they have been remarkably successful.
The Death Knell Has Not Sounded Yet
It would be unwise to write them off just yet. They could shake off the rust and quickly remind everyone of their brilliance. Arguably the world’s best player, s1mple, insists they are still the greatest CS:GO team in the business, and he makes an important point about judging them on results in bigger tournaments. If you check out these esports odds, you will find plenty of CS:GO markets and Astralis will remain the favourites to win every tournament they enter.
They will certainly head the futures betting for Starladder Berlin Major in September. If they win it, they will become the first team in CS:GO history to secure three major victories on the bounce and the first to triumph four times.
If they fail to win there, it really will be the end of an era, but we cannot start writing their obituaries just yet, much as some people would love to. Either way, they have been made to look like mere mortals and a sense that rivals have finally caught up with them abounds, and this should ensure interest in CS:GO remains to sky high over the coming months.
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This article has been first published at Gamershaven.quora.com on June 19, 2019
