On a day of landmark upsets at the IEM Rio Major RMR A event, the once-dominant Danish dynasty in Astralis has experienced its darkest day, having failed to qualify for a Major for the first time as an organization after losing to forZe in two maps today.
Astralis’ Major streak was already on life support following map one, Mirage, after surrendering a 13-4 lead to a successful forZe comeback due to a disastrous T-side. Xyp9x and gla1ve combined for just three second-half kills and forZe put on a defensive showcase, allowing only two bomb plants over the last 13 rounds. Shalfey finished on top of the scoreboard for forZe with 26 kills against 14 deaths in a 16-14 forZe win.
ForZe looked poised to sweep away Astralis on Nuke early, jumping out to a quick 6-1 lead. But Astralis ended up producing a solid T-sided half regardless, bouncing back before halftime to give themselves more breathing room on their CT side. Astralis eventually took the lead on CT, but they couldn’t hold it against forZe’s ability to get early picks and pinch. Zorte and Norwi were the playmakers for forZe late in the map, pushing their team across the finish line 16-13.
The stunning defeat came less than an hour after an almost equally stunning result when G2 shockingly fell to GamerLegion in a best-of-three, keeping NiKo and crew away from the Major for the first time in years—and just a year after G2 reached the grand final of PGL Stockholm.
The result is the latest in the downward trend that Astralis has experienced at Majors since the event’s return in 2021. The one-time three-straight Major winners finished 1-3 in the Legends Stage at PGL Stockholm, fell in the Challengers Stage at Antwerp, and have now missed the Major altogether for the first time. Astralis was facing an upward battle at this RMR, having to sub in MistR at the last minute for an injured k0nfig.
