Astralis’ hopes of competing in the BLAST.tv Paris Major have been dashed after suffering a 1-3 loss in the Europe RMR B qualifying tournament. This marks the second consecutive time the Danish squad will miss out on a CS:GO Major, having failed to qualify for IEM Rio last November.
The team began the tournament with best-of-one losses against Vitality and Eternal Fire, leading them to elimination series. Astralis managed to secure a win over Spirit but ultimately succumbed to Ninjas in Pyjamas (NiP). Aleksi “Aleksib” Virolainen’s NiP outperformed Astralis 16-4 on Nuke, and despite Astralis’ efforts, they could not convert their advantages on Vertigo, resulting in a 2-0 series loss.
As a result of their victory, Ninjas in Pyjamas will advance to the 2-2 pool matches. A win would guarantee them a spot in Paris, while a loss would send them to the last-chance qualifier to compete with five other teams for a single remaining spot.Astralis’ recent struggles in the tier-one scene have been apparent, with just one significant playoffs appearance in the past year at ESL One Cologne. The addition of Christian “Buzz” Andersen and Nicolai “device” Reedtz earlier in the year failed to improve the team’s performance, despite device’s impressive 1.23 rating average in 2023 following a year-long hiatus from competition.
“… The overall goal has not changed, and when we have recovered and thoroughly evaluated everything around this tournament, we will find the way forward again.” – Kasper Hvidt, Director of Sports.
Although Astralis managed to qualify for IEM Dallas, their early exit from the Major qualifier forces them to reevaluate their strategy and consider potential changes within the team.
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