Astralis had no problems against ENCE in the final yesterday at the Spodek Arena, as they beat the Finnish side in a comfortable manner. It was somehow expected despite the fact that ENCE produced to big upsets against Liquid and Na’Vi in the quarter-finals and semi-finals respectively.
Train was the first map and ENCE’s pick in terms of maps, and despite the Finnish team showed signs of life during the match, Astralis looked sharp and closed the first map at 16-11.
The second map, Inferno, was a different story, as Astralis began in a much powerful manner. They had a huge 14-1 lead at halftime and despite ENCE took the first two rounds of the second half, Astralis responded fast and took the next two rounds to win the map 16-4.
#ToTheStars pic.twitter.com/hZJ52QlfPO
— Intel®ExtremeMasters (@IEM) March 3, 2019
With this triumph, Astralis have moved level with fnatic’s record of three Major titles, after winning the ELEAGUE Major Atlanta and the FACEIT Major. In addition, Astralis are now the third team in history to win back-to-back Major titles. The first two teams are fnatic and the Brazilian roster of Luminosity/SK.
Astralis will now be looking for a fourth Major title at the StarLadder Major in August, although they will play again at the BLAST Pro Series Sao Paulo in three weeks. Until then, all eyes will be on the WESG 2018 World Finals, where 31 teams will compete for a $890,000 prize pool.
