Astralis secured yet another confident victory on Inferno in Istanbul, beating Cloud9 16-7, while Ninjas in Pyjamas took all three points from a back-and-forth game against Virtus.pro on Cache, 16-13.
Similarly to their first two games, Astralis kicked off their match against Cloud9 on Inferno perfectly, grabbing a 3-0 start as CT, and then resetting the North American side just after they added their first to the board thanks to Tyler "Skadoodle" Latham's heroics.
The score was 6-1 shortly, with Astralis winning all of their rounds without allowing even a bomb plant. Maikil "Golden" Selim then unlocked the A site defence with two kills and Cloud9 held the afterplant, but were then once again reset and Astralis pounced, extending to an 8-2 lead. Cloud9's lifesaver on the T side was a force-buy win on B, after which they managed to grab some momentum and switch to the CT 9-6 down.
device and co. are strolling past their opposition at BLAST
Astralis were quick to assert themselves on the Terrorist side, taking the first three rounds with ease, and then Nicolai "device" Reedtz and Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth won an unwinnable 2v5 to all but secure the victory (14-6). Cloud9 managed one CT round, but that was all she wrote as Astralis closed out the game to go three for three in Istanbul.
BLAST Pro Series Istanbul 2018Best of 1 AstralisMatchpage 16 7 29th September 2018 Cloud9 16Inferno 7
Astralis
K - D
+/-
ADR
Rating 2.0
Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethXyp9x
23 - 6
+17
101.3
1.74
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk
19 - 14
+5
104.8
1.53
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh
20 - 9
+11
70.7
1.22
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossandergla1ve
13 - 9
+4
66.8
1.14
Nicolai 'device' Reedtzdevice
15 - 12
+3
77.3
1.13
Cloud9
K - D
+/-
ADR
Rating 2.0
Tyler 'Skadoodle' LathamSkadoodle
13 - 15
-2
54.8
0.84
Robin 'flusha' Rönnquistflusha
12 - 18
-6
91.1
0.84
Maikil 'Golden' SelimGolden
11 - 18
-7
54.3
0.68
William 'RUSH' WierzbaRUSH
6 - 18
-12
28.5
0.52
Timothy 'autimatic' Taautimatic
8 - 21
-13
58.1
0.51
Virtus.pro took on Ninjas in Pyjamas on Cache, winning the pistol round but dropping the ball in the next one as Jonas "Lekr0" Olofsson won the force buy for his side with three Deagle headshots. The Swedes ran up a 5-1 lead before the Poles managed to strike back, finding entries in the following three rounds and managing to close them out to narrow the gap (5-4).
Michał "snatchie" Rudzki was the main man for Virtus.pro on the T side, clutching a 1v2 on A towards the end of the half to allow his team to finish it with a minimal, 8-7 advantage. The back-and-forth continued in the second half and despite losing the pistol, Ninjas in Pyjamas had a chance to assert dominance early on. However, the Swedes lost to just upgraded pistols and snatchie's P250 triple (12-10 for Virtus.pro), making it seem like Virtus.pro could grab the win.
The final stages of the game were all about the veteran duo Christopher "GeT_RiGhT" Alesund and Patrik "f0rest" Lindberg, with the former opening up rounds and the latter getting a key clutch for his team that enabled the Ninjas to close out the game with a B rush, 16-13.
BLAST Pro Series Istanbul 2018Best of 1 Virtus.proMatchpage 13 16 29th September 2018 Ninjas in Pyjamas 13Cache 16
Virtus.pro
K - D
+/-
ADR
Rating 2.0
Michał 'snatchie' Rudzkisnatchie
25 - 20
+5
83.2
1.23
Piotr 'morelz' Taterkamorelz
20 - 19
+1
78.7
1.05
Filip 'NEO' KubskiNEO
17 - 20
-3
77.6
0.95
Jarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskipashaBiceps
18 - 22
-4
62.0
0.84
Michał 'MICHU' MüllerMICHU
14 - 23
-9
61.4
0.70
Ninjas in Pyjamas
K - D
+/-
ADR
Rating 2.0
Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundGeT_RiGhT
28 - 19
+9
111.6
1.64
Patrik 'f0rest' Lindbergf0rest
23 - 16
+7
76.6
1.26
Fredrik 'REZ' SternerREZ
19 - 20
-1
82.1
1.12
Jonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonLekr0
18 - 18
0
66.3
1.00
Dennis 'dennis' Edmandennis
16 - 21
-5
52.1
0.78
Group stage standing after three rounds played is as follows:
Group A TEAM M P Astralis 3 9 MIBR 3 7 Ninjas in Pyjamas 3 4 Virtus.pro 3 3 Space Soldiers 3 3 Cloud9 3 0 Cloud9 #21 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistTyler 'Skadoodle' LathamWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTimothy 'autimatic' TaMaikil 'Golden' Selim Cloud9 #21 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistTyler 'Skadoodle' LathamWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTimothy 'autimatic' TaMaikil 'Golden' Selim Soham 'valens' Chowdhury Virtus.pro #28 Filip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiMichał 'MICHU' MüllerPiotr 'morelz' TaterkaMichał 'snatchie' Rudzki Space Soldiers #39 Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşBuğra 'Calyx' ArkınAhmet 'paz' KarahocaEngin 'ngiN' Kor Canpolat 'hardstyle' Yıldıran Michał 'snatchie' Rudzki Age: 20 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 538 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.69 Maikil 'Golden' Selim Age: 24 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 0.93 Maps played: 400 KPR: 0.64 DPR: 0.69 Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund Age: 28 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 1415 KPR: 0.77 DPR: 0.63 Nicolai 'device' Reedtz Age: 23 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.17 Maps played: 1174 KPR: 0.79 DPR: 0.63 Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Virtus.pro #28 Filip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiMichał 'MICHU' MüllerPiotr 'morelz' TaterkaMichał 'snatchie' Rudzki Jakub 'kuben' Gurczyński Jonas 'Lekr0' Olofsson Age: 25 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 626 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.66 Tyler 'Skadoodle' Latham Age: 25 Team: Cloud9 Rating 1.0: 1.06 Maps played: 994 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.58 MIBR #4 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoTarik 'tarik' CelikFernando 'fer' AlvarengaJake 'Stewie2K' YipMarcelo 'coldzera' David Janko 'YNk' Paunović Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Danny 'zonic' Sørensen Ninjas in Pyjamas #9 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundDennis 'dennis' EdmanJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' Sterner Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth Age: 23 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 1351 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.62 Patrik 'f0rest' Lindberg Age: 30 Team: Ninjas in Pyjamas Rating 1.0: 1.13 Maps played: 1386 KPR: 0.78 DPR: 0.65 Ninjas in Pyjamas #9 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundDennis 'dennis' EdmanJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' Sterner Faruk 'pita' Pita