Astralis Defeats FaZe Clan, Secures ESL Pro League Grand Finals Spot

In dominating fashion, the Astralis Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) team was able to punch its ticket to Sunday's grand finals of the ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals with a 2-0 semifinal victory over FaZe Clan in the second semifinal match of Saturday. Both teams were competing for the right to face Team Liquid for the title of ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals Champions and the largest share of the $750,000 grand prize, but FaZe Clan was not able to get anything going against Astralis on either map of their semifinal matchup. 

GG @astralisgg who sweep @FaZeClan 2:0 and move on to meet @TeamLiquid in the grand finals tomorrow - It's gonna be a good day for sure #ESLProLeague https://t.co/ZvDWXMCAnq pic.twitter.com/SVYKzExuFW

— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) May 19, 2018

The first map of the semifinal match was Mirage and, it saw Astralis race out to a commanding 12-3 lead in the first half on the counter terrorist side. FaZe Clan was not able to mount any kind of comeback in the second half, as Astralis was able to close out Mirage with four straight round wins to collect the 16-3 victory on Mirage and a 1-0 match lead. Emil "Magisk" Reif led the way for Astralis on Mirage with 21 kills, 100.8 average damage per round, an overall rating of 1.81 and only 6 deaths against FaZe Clan. 

Inferno was the second map of the semifinal match, and Astralis was once again able to take a substantial lead in the first half. Securing a victory in 13 of the 15 first half rounds on the terrorist side, Astralis put themselves in prime position to secure the semifinal victory. FaZe Clan managed to take four rounds in the second half on the terrorist side, but Astralis was able to collect the last three rounds they needed to secure the 16-6 win on Inferno. Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander was a dominant force for Astralis on Inferno, as he collected 23 kills, 114.1 average damage per round , an overall rating of 1.86 and 10 deaths. 

With their impressive semifinal victory against the talented FaZe Clan behind them, Astralis will be looking to finish off their ESL Pro League Season 7 Finals performance with a championship and the collection of the lion's share of the $750,000 prize pool, but will have to first get through the North American squad of Team Liquid. 

(cover photo courtesy of ESL)