The three-time defending champion is stumbling right out of the gate at Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s biggest event of 2021.
Astralis is now 0-2 at the PGL Major Stockholm after the first day of competition. The Danish roster suffered a pair of 6-16 stomps at the hands of Copenhagen Flames and Entropiq.
Astralis was a popular pick to dominate the Challengers stage. Now the team is just one loss away from a very early elimination. All the people who called Astralis 3-0 for Pick’ems are not happy about this opening round.
Astralis has generally performed well at offline events this year, but PGL Major Stockholm is a serious break in form so far. The magic that led to three consecutive major titles just isn’t there right now. Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz has left for Ninjas in Pyjamas and the squad made the controversial last-minute replacement of Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen with Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander. Hopefully for Astralis fans, Bubzkji’s curse shows some mercy at the last second. Going from three consecutive championships to a last-place finish would cement the Astralis era as a thing of the past.
Copenhagen Flames Stockholm Major roster
Copenhagen Flames’ CSGO division includes the following players and staff.
Fredrik “roeJ” Jørgensen
Rasmus “Zyphon” Nordfoss
Jakob “Jabbi” Nygaard
Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen
Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi
Daniel “vorborg” Vorborg (Coach)
Niels “NaToSaphiX” Sillassen (Substitute)
Astralis looked steady after winning the first pistol round going up 3-0, but the tune quickly changed once Copenhagen Flames got rifle money. The reigning CSGO major champion looked lost on Overpass with hesitant rushes and scrambled retakes. After a competitive first half, CPH Flames’ T side steamrolled for seven consecutive rounds for a 16-6 finish.
Copenhagen Flames narrowly qualified for the Stockholm Major with a tenth-place finish in the European Regional Major Rankings. The Flames are seeded 15th, second to last
above FaZe Clan. The squad isn’t expected to make it too far, but a win over Astralis could give some momentum. CPH Flames still needs two more victories to secure a Legends stage spot.
Entropiq Stockholm Major roster
Entropiq’s roster for PGL Major Stockholm is as follows.
Igor “Forester” Bezotecheskiy
Aleksey “El1an” Gusev
Viktor “Lack1” Boldyrev
Alexey “NickelBack” Trofimov
Vladislav “Krad” Kravchenko
Dmitry “hooch” Bogdanov (Coach)
Egor “flamie” Vasilev (Substitute)
Entropiq was probably glanced over and forgotten by most Pick’ems players, but this match proves that the team deserves its spot in Stockholm. With a 3.0 KD ratio and 102.5 damage per round, Lack1 was undoubtedly the man of the match. An unexpected flank during the final gun round all but secured a 1-1 Entropiq match record. Stellar pistol play from Krad helped kickstart the team’s Challengers stage run.
Entropiq landed a shot at the Stockholm Major’s $2 million prize pool after the Russian team ranked fourth in the CIS Regional Major Rankings, earning it 14th seed. The squad’s biggest payday of the year was a $24,000 championship at the first Malta Vibes Knockout Series. A top-eight finish at the major would nearly double Entropiq’s total earnings in 2021 to date.
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