The final semifinalist of the IEM Katowice Major was determined today in the fourth quarterfinal between Ninjas in Pyjamas and Astralis.
Astralis are the fourth-straight team to achieve a sweep in the quarterfinal stage of the $1 million Katowice event as they edged out Ninjas in Pyjamas in two maps. NiP made the mistake of picking Mirage, while Astralis went with Dust II, where they were surprised by NiP’s T side efforts.
Related: MIBR take down Renegades in the third quarterfinal of the IEM Katowice Major
Quarterfinal No. 4: Astralis vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas
Astralis won Mirage 16-2
Map one Mirage was an absolute slaughter committed by the Danes. Astralis won 15 consecutive CT rounds while only allowing three bomb plants throughout the map. Patrik “f0rest” Lindberg’s 3K in the second pistol round prevented another Astralis 16-0 map sweep, but the Danish side won the map once they got to the first buy round. Emil “Magisk” Reif soared above everyone else in the server at a nice 23 kill top frag and 112.9 average damage per round stat.
Astralis won Dust II 16-13
NiP actually put up a good fight on Dust II, despite the steep deficit in the previous map. Astralis continued their momentum in their first half on T side, taking the lead 11-4 early on against the Ninjas.
A second pistol round victory and win streak lifted the Swedes’ spirits as they executed their way into Astralis’ bomb sites until 11-9, when the Danes pulled out the double AWP setup. Even then, NiP changed up their playstyle and pace, giving “no respect Counter-Strike” to the best team in the world. But the magic ran out for the underdogs, since Astralis’ sweep was saved by Andreas “Xyp9x” Hojsleth’s Cat control at 14-13 and 14-14.
Astralis will be going up against MIBR tomorrow in the semifinals of IEM Katowice. Their match will be at 1:50pm CT, right after the first semifinal between Natus Vincere and ENCE Esports. The winners of both matches will then advance to the grand finals on Sunday, March 3, when the next CS:GO Major champion will be crowned in Poland.
