Astralis has emerged victorious at IEM Beijing defeating 100 Thieves in the final and got there by not losing one map all tournament. Astralis once again proved their doubters wrong, they dominated the group stages, and then devastated their opponents in the finals. Both 100 Thieves and FaZe Clan felt the wrath of the Danes, as Astralis ran away with the tournament. This win has the potential to revitalize their season and give them a chance at winning the Season 3 of the Intel Grand Slam.
Undefeated at IEM Beijing
Astralis went undefeated this tournament, with their closest map ending 16-14 on Vertigo in the Grand Final. However, this result is the outlier, as this was one of two times their opponent got double digits. Astralis also had the quickest game of the tournament, with one map being a perfect game. This is a significant achievement, considering Astralis finished 4th place at the Blast Pro Series: Copenhagen. They were beaten a number of times at that tournament, which likely forced them to step up their game at IEM Beijing.
In the group stages, VG lost 16-5 and 16-4, whereas 100 Thieves lost 15-10 and 16-9. In the semi-finals, FaZe Clan were defeated on Dust II 16-0 and then lost on Nuke 16-2. This is incredible really, considering FaZe had great results on those two maps against Evil Geniuses in the group stages.
As for the finals, 100 Thieves opened up the series with a 14-16 loss to Astralis on Vertigo. Finally, it seemed like Astralis would face a challenge. However, Astralis only got stronger from there. Astralis defeated 100 Thieves on Nuke 16-5 and Train 16-3. This feels reminiscent of Astralis dominant phase in 2018.
Stats
Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander performed exceptionally well this tournament, earning himself tournament MVP. For an in-game leader, this is frankly unheard of. gla1ve performed so well, that CSGO analyst Duncan “Thoorin” Shields referred to his performance as “s1mple like.”
In the above section, you can see a clip of the plays that gla1ve was performing too. There is no doubt that gla1ve performing the way he did allow his team to snowball maps into quick finishes. In addition, this is gla1ve’s first-ever MVP award in his career. This was simply an outstanding performance from the Dane.
Heading into the future
With every tournament that passes by, there seems to be a new team wants to stake a claim as the world’s number one. Astralis winning this tournament as convincingly as they did means Astralis are not out of that conversation yet, despite hiccups earlier in the month.
The next major events Astralis will attend is the ESL Season 10 Pro League finals at the end of November, with the ECS Season 8 Finals at the start of December, These events will also feature the likes of Evil Geniuses, Team Liquid, and Fnatic – who each have a claim at being the best team in the world. With Evil Geniuses currently many viewers No.1, despite an early exit here. As for Fnatic, they too are back in business being one of three teams with a point in the Intel Grand Slam Season 3, alongside Team Liquid and of course, Astralis.
If any of these teams can excel as we head into the final days of the calendar, then 2020 will be about them. The way Astralis look after their demonstration here, they may now be leading in the front of the conversation, despite everything else going on around them. The question here is can Fnatic or Team Liquid stop them and put themselves in that picture? Or will Evil Geniuses solidly cement themselves as #1 as the year closes out?
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Featured Image via: ESL
