Astralis capped off an impressive run at the FACEIT Major 2018 with a lopsided 2-0 sweep of Natus Vincere in the grand finals at the SSE Arena in Wembley.
WE DID IT!
TWO TIMES MAJOR CHAMPIONS! ���� pic.twitter.com/c5hiANLfy1
- Astralis (@astralisgg) September 23, 2018
As has been the case for almost the entirety of 2018, the grand finals of the FACEIT Major 2018 was all Astralis, all the time. It was clear from very early on that this was Astralis' time to shine and there was nothing Na'Vi could do to stop it. For as great as Na'Vi has been, the team's play looked second class next to the crisp and clean technique that Astralis put out all series long.
When Na'Vi opened the series with three wins on Nuke, it seemed like there was some hope. As soon as Astralis had enough money to buy, however, it was just about curtains for Na'Vi. Astralis rattled off nine straight rounds after losing those first three and whatever momentum Na'Vi might have garnered was completely stomped out. Most hauntingly, Aleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev was nowhere to be found for Na'Vi, only managing nine kills in the entirety of the 16-6 loss.
With Overpass up for Game 2, it was Na'Vi's chance at redemption on its own map pick. Much like the first game, though, the stars seemed to be lining up for Astralis in a major way. It didn't matter what side Astralis was on or what weapons it had at any given moment, it was winning with anything and everything it could get its hands on. Whether it was Emil "Magisk" Reif tallying a triple kill with the UMP, Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander locking down bomb sites with his rifle or Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz winning the AWP duel against s1mple, Astralis was doing it all. Na'Vi attempted to change its fortune late in the match with three straight rounds to close the gap to 14-9, but Astralis buckled down and picked up the final two rounds needed to secure this win.
Astralis' win in London marks the team's fifth tournament victory in 2018, easily maintaining its title as the best team in Counter-Strike.
--Wyatt Donigan
