Astralis found success against Mousesports and Team Liquid upset Na’Vi to book spots at the ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier Finals.
The Danish powerhouse was showing, again, that they are best team in the competition. They were never really challenged by any teams up to this point in the ELEAGUE Premier, and that trend did not change today. Mousesports were also looking strong coming into the semifinals, but comparing their competition to Astralis would be like comparing mice to lions. However, upsets were always possible.
Speaking of upsets, Team Liquid also came into today’s events after taking down MIBR. They were looking incredibly strong throughout the ELEAGUE Premier. In fact, they would only drop a game to Astralis in the group stages. However, Team Liquid’s calm, organized gameplan was very effective thus far in the tournament. Natus Vincere was also looking extremely powerful. Na’Vi had just come off a convincing win against Mousesports, with their star Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev showing off his incredible talent.
Let’s take a look at today’s matches.
Astralis vs. Mousesports
Two very brief maps were the decider for Astralis against Mousesports. Their first map, Nuke, had a pretty decisive first half for the Danish side. Mousesports’ recent acquisition Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski was pretty much nonexistent in the first half of the map, with nine deaths and no kills. However, Snax manages to wake up in the second half, but it was too little, too late for Mouz. They would show signs of life on their own T side, but the sheer firepower on Astralis was simply too much for them to handle. Astralis’ Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander would net himself 29 kills, and their star AWPer Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz wouldn’t even need to hit double digit kills for the win.
.@gla1ve_csgo gets another 3k spraydown to end Game 1 16-11! pic.twitter.com/DTaPybjzYM
— ELEAGUE (@ELEAGUETV) July 28, 2018
Their second map, Mirage, was more of the same story for Mousesports. Astralis would dominate the first half, taking a strong 12-3 lead. After giving Danish fans a scare by losing a pistol round and a few buy rounds, Astralis would close out the game 16-10. Dev1ce would have a great performance on the map, managing 23 kills.
Team Liquid vs. Na’Vi
The first map between Team Liquid and Natus Vincere would be pretty close. Both teams would come out of the gate strong, with each side shutting down the other teams attempt at momentum. It was Team Liquid who found their footing first in a very back and forth matchup. Liquid would force buy after Na’Vi would win their fifth round, and it would break Na’Vi’s push for more wins. They would end the half strong, 10-5.
However, the ESL One Cologne champions would strike back in the second half with some great play from Egor “flamie” Vasilyev and S1mple. Na’Vi would take the lead later on, 13-12. It seemed like all the momentum was on Natus Vincere’s side, but after some really close rounds, Team Liquid would come out on top, 16-13. TL’s Nick “nitr0” Cannella would lead the way with 20 frags on the map.
On map two, Natus Vincere would look much more composed, winning the first three rounds. Overpass was looking like the map for Na’Vi to tie the series, but Team Liquid would turn up the heat right after. TL’s lockdown defense, paired with stellar play from Keith “NAF” Markovic and Epitacio “TACO” de Melo, would push Team Liquid to a 9-6 lead at the halfway mark.
In the second half, Na’Vi would look to even the scoreline. However, after a misplay on their anti-eco round against TL, they would go down 12-8. This is when Liquid’s Russel “Twistzz” Van Dulken and TACO would shine brightest. Twistzz would help TL take complete control of the game with a brilliant ace:
.@TwistzzVD insane ace to put Na'Vi back on pistols! pic.twitter.com/wWUTXXPtb8
— ELEAGUE (@ELEAGUETV) July 28, 2018
TACO would then follow his lead four rounds later, with an incredible 4k round in a 2v5 situation:
.@TACOCS gives @TeamLiquid match and series point! pic.twitter.com/w0Ip5p5c80
— ELEAGUE (@ELEAGUETV) July 28, 2018
David vs. Goliath: Part Two
Team Liquid would take the match 16-9, and are sending the ESL One Cologne champions home early. We now have a rematch of an earlier group stage battle between Astralis and Team Liquid. Liquid is often hailed as the “Astralis of North America”, and rightly so. TL’s calm, focused style of play is very reminiscent of the Danish superteam. However, can Team Liquid dethrone arguably the best team in the world? Can David take down another Goliath? We will find out tomorrow at 2 PM EST!
What are your thoughts on the ELEAGUE Premier semifinals? Let us know in the comments below! If you want more CS:GO content, check us out here!
