by On Saturday, Astralis swept Team Liquid in the grand finals of the BLAST Pro Series Global Finals to claim US $350,000 in prize money and prove once again why they are regarded as the best CS:GO esports team in the world.
The BLAST Pro Series Global Finals took off on Thursday, December 12 at ISA Sports City in Raffa, Bahrain. Participating at the event were the four teams that secured the most points throughout the six BLAST Pro Series circuit stops: FaZe Clan, Team Liquid, Astralis and Ninjas in Pyjamas.
The tournament kicked off with a match between FaZe and NiP, followed by a clash between two CS:GO titans in Team Liquid and Astralis.
Ninjas in Pyjamas swept FaZe 2-0 to secure a spot in the upper bracket finals and Astralis followed with the same scoreline against Team Liquid. The two finalists clashed a day later, when Astralis booked their spot in the grand finals with a straightforward 2-0 win over NiP.
Team Liquid, meanwhile, fought their way through the lower bracket. While their road was not as smooth as that of Astralis, TL defeated both FaZe (2-1) and NiP (2-0) to set up a heavily anticipated rematch with the Danes.
The challengers were slow out of the gates, however, as it was Astralis who took a commanding 8-0 lead at the start of the first map and ended the first half 11-4 up. TL started to come alive in the second half, but it was too little, too late for a comeback. The opening match on Inferno ended with a convincing 16-11 win for Astralis.
The second map was Nuke, where Team Liquid were expected to struggle due to their poor win rate. Despite the statistical disadvantage, TL fought well and even earned a one-round lead (8-7) by half-time.
Things were looking up for Nicholas “nitr0” Cannella and his squad, but Astralis had other plans. Team Liquid won the opening round of the second half to take a two-point lead, but that was where their run ended. Astralis put together three consecutive rounds to reclaim the lead and never looked back, taking the series and the title with a 16-12 win.
While the whole Astralis team performed exceptionally well, it was Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen who took out the MVP award thanks to an impressive 1.27 HLTV rating. Besides his high rating, dupreeh also finished the event as the best player in terms of kill-death difference (+45) and headshots per round (0.41).
The victory sees Astralis end 2019 with six LAN tournament titles, including IEM Katowice 2019 and the StarLadder Berlin Major, as well as second- or third-place finishes in six other events.
