Astralis blameF ahead of IEM Cologne: “We are in a bit of an upswing”

After a series of relatively disappointing performances, Astralis secured top 4 placements in their last two tournaments. The team is far from its optimal performance but the recent results have provided a confidence boost to the players said Astralis blameF in the press conference today.

For many fans, the team’s performance at IEM Dallas was below expectations. Despite not having a great year, fans are always cheering for their favorite players to improve. But Dallas saw Astralis crash out in the 9-12th place, winning just one series against ENCORE ESC. The team went into internal discussions after the event focusing on what can be improved.

I can’t say what our expectations are but I think we have had a period of rough results. We are in a bit of an upswing. We have made two pretty ok results – the finals of the tournament in Sweden [Pinnacle Cup] and the semifinals of the online cup [Roobet Cup]. Obviously, we still want better results but I think we are in the period of delivering better results than we were doing before. I think there’s some optimism in the team of the back of those results.

Astralis BlameF on the team’s recent results

There were slight changes to the role, some mid-round movements and positions. But the impact is clearly visible as Astralis, in their last two events finished top 4. And with these changes, the players are feeling much more comfortable and confident. When asked about the ‘role-changes’ on the team, Astralis gave his thoughts on the recent changes.

I think it’s not like role-changes in the sense that we set and switch all the roles of positions. It’s not that kind of stuff. It’s kind of like – the mid-round initiative and stuff like that. To get a different way of who’s playing where at the map in the middle of the rounds. But I feel more comfortable now than before.

Astralis blameF

Farlig has been the newest addition to the Astralis player roster. The 23-year-old Dane has been a marked improvement for Astralis with a 1.11 K/D in the last three months. But he’s not done yet.

I’m still not where I want to be. But we’ll see how it goes in this tournament.

Farlig on his performance on the team

The CSPPA player break

Glaive led Astralis through one of the most dominant periods in Counter-Strike Global offensive history. The Astralis roster feat. some of the now Vitality players and coach dominated the CS: GO scene with their precise strategies and ‘perfect’ gameplay.

A lot of people were not agreeing that they should change the dates but they didn’t answer the question. So it just got changed, it was a huge mess.

Gla1ve on the csppa player break dates

Recently the CSPPA announced the dates for the 2023 player break. The tweet saw some surprised reactions from players some of whom had no idea about this decision.

“Both players and the CSPPA are at fault”: Vitality apEX and Magisk on 2023 CS: GO Player break

Players share their thoughts on the 2023 Player break which will take place from June 12 – July 9, 2023.

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Rohan

Jul 4

Speaking on the player break happening before the CS: GO Major, Gla1ve provided some more context on the situation

“The CSPPA thing was just that they asked people when did they want the date, if they were OK with the new dates. And everyone that actually answered the question was saying Yes. And a lot of people were not agreeing that they should change the dates but they didn’t answer the question. So it just got changed, it was a huge mess. And I don’t know what is going to happen with that.“

Gla1ve’s personal favorites for IEM Cologne

Cloud9NaviFaZe Clan

IEM Cologne, the Cathedral of Counter Strike is one of the biggest tournaments in the CS: GO calendar year. This year’s event has 24 teams with a million dollar prize pool. Sixteen teams start in the play-in stage with eight moving ahead to the Group stage.

“I think Cloud9 showed that they were a really strong team at Dallas. They could do it again, but of course we have some other really strong teams here with FaZe and Navi. Those three are probably the favorites. Navi just won the BLAST tournament even though they are playing with a new player. Cloud9 also won a big tournament. So I think both of them, a bit more than FaZe, are looking good for the tournament.”