The Danish Counter Strike team, Astralis, have managed to win the IEM Katowice CSGO Major and make a claim for being one of the best esports organisations of all-time. Whilst ENCE managed to put in some formidable gameplay, at the end of the day, Astralis proved their worth and pick up one of the biggest prizes in modern esports.
For a while it looked like the Finnish team, ENCE, were going to prove the doubters wrong when they managed to win four successive rounds. Thanks to the surprising use of an auto shotgun, Astralis looked shaken, but the Danish side managed to gather themselves and used their experience to win map 1 with a commanding score of 16-11.
Astralis looked particularly at home on the Inferno map and once again proved why so many punters have backed this team on esports betting resources. With ENCE being completely unable to match Astralis and losing the first 10 rounds, things eventually came true to form and Astralis went on to claim the match and pick up a very handy $500,000 in prize winnings.
The IEM Katowice CSGO Major showed plenty of excellent gameplay from teams like Natus Vincere, MIBR and FaZe Clan. But as Astralis have now won back to back Majors without losing a map, they make a claim for being the greatest Counter Strike team of all-time.
By getting their third Major title, Astralis have shown that there are many ingredients that go into producing a formidable esports team. Recently we have seen how rivals like FaZe Clan and Mousesports have invested plenty of resources into producing teams that looked great on paper, but have failed to deliver the goods when the time comes.
Whilst the esports organisations like FaZe Clan have become notorious for in-fighting and battles of egos, the rise of teams like Astralis have shown how good communication and shared values can help build a match winning performance. Astralis have been in existence since 2016 and from their base in Copenhagen, they have managed to deliver many excellent results. This can be seen in the fact that they became the second team in CSGO history after Fnatic to pick up three Major titles.
By getting to the New Champions stage without dropping a single map against Ninjas in Pyjamas, MIBR and ENCE, the all-Danish team have shown that the era of the ‘international superteam’ may be over. Stars like Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz and Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen are great players in their own right, but it’s the fact that Astralis are willing to work together as a team that shows just how impressive this side currently are.
What’s remarkable is that four of the final eight teams at the IEM Katowice CSGO Major were of a single nationality. Ninjas in Pyjamas, MIBR, ENCE and Astralis all shared a common language and culture and it illustrates just how important communication is to success in competitive gaming. Whilst FaZe Clan’s roster is packed with international stars, it seems that this formidable team just can’t get it together to compete on Counter Strike at the highest level.
Although there are many people who have criticised Astralis for being a boring side to watch, if you just look at their statistics over the past couple of years, such misgivings are clearly unfounded if you want to bet on a CSGO team. If you want to see some of the best Counter Strike skills around, then the likes of Coldzera or NiKo are clearly up there with the best. But it’s the fact that Astralis are able to play with a skill level that’s greater than the sum of their parts that makes their winning record so unquestionable.
By not relying on too many fancy tricks, and instead concentrating on building a solid squad, Astralis have redefined what it means to be a successful Counter Strike team. Few casual esports fans are going to get too excited by the tactical knowhow in the Astralis camp, but the way that the Danish team can pull apart other sides is truly breathtaking.
It’s fairly common to rank an CSGO team according to their individual players’ talents in a deathmatch. Whilst this can go some way in helping you get a good idea of how things could pan out, if you are wanting to put money on a team to win, it’s far better to see how well they actually communicate with each other.
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