Astralis has bagged their second win of the ESL Pro League Season 23 Stage 1, beating HEROIC with a 2-0 scoreline. Having lost their starman, the new Astralis lineup is slowly finding its footing. Two convincing performances in a row to kick off the event make fans want to believe in the organisation once again.
VETO
- HEROIC removed Anubis
- Astralis removed Mirage
- HEROIC picked Dust2
- Astralis picked Overpass
- HEROIC removed Ancient
- Astralis removed Inferno
- Nuke was left over
Map 1: Dust2; Pick: HEROIC; Winner: Astralis
Starting the map with a pistol conversion, Astralis kicked the series off with a solid defense in Dust2, leading to HEROIC fighting for rounds and only managing 4 before closing out the half. Winning the first 3 rounds, Astralis extended their lead to 11-4 before HEROIC started hitting their shots on the defense. Step by step, the young roster roped in rounds and cornered Astralis as they pushed the game to overtime, making the Danes choke hard. Following a disastrous second half, Astralis found their footing, winning two rounds inthe first half of OT and roping in two more to close out the first map with a 16-13 win. New addition phzy dropping 28 kills as an AWPer made Astralis edge out their opponents to take an early lead in the series.
Map 2: Overpass; Pick: Astralis; Winner: Astralis
Another pistol conversion, another 3-0 start set Astralis afoot towards their second win of the event. Heroic, having suffered a tough defeat, levelled the scoreline with the first gun round before both teams shared the remaining rounds to close the half with a levelled scoreline. Switching sides with a 6-6 scoreline, Astralis on the defense, converted the pistol round, making it 4/4 for the series. Astralis slowly made their way to series point with HEROIC threatening at times, but an unconvincing performance on the offense made the final half of the series a cakewalk for the Danes. Solid team effort from Astralis to secure their second win of the event, and they are in a prime position to make it to the next round of play.
HEROIC’s young roster is showing promise, but they can’t seem to close out the games espeically in LAN, where the price of experience always pays dividend and against IGL’s like HooXi, inexperience can cost dearly. As they continue to grow as a team, ESL Pro League can be a perfect stage for them to gain experience for the coming events, but it is upto them to convert the experience into fruitful performance.
