Magisk on Fire at Blast Pro Series: Lisbon! Astralis on Fire in 2018!

The tournaments of Blast Pro Series have become a kind of unique phenomenon in the world of CS:GO Esports. These events have an absolutely unusual format, which has turned out to be very popular in the community.

On December 14-15, Lisbon hosted the last Blast Pro of the year, and in fact, the last big CS:GO tournament of 2018.

No one could defeat Astralis here! The team continues smashing everything in its way. That’s an amazing approach of high motivation and excellent discipline. Astralis guys give a nice example to all gamers – sparkling individual skills combined in brilliant teamwork.

Let’s take a look at the best moments of Blast Pro Series: Lisbon 2018.

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Astralis Win Blast Pro Series Lisabon 2018

First-time Tournament

Blast Pro Series in Lisbon recorded several firsts:

For the first time in his Esports career, Magisk got an MVP title. This Astralis player was incredible and really deserved such a reward. It’s astonishing to see how he holds the position on the B site of Dust II in games with NIP (the Group Stage) and Na’Vi (the Grand Final).
For the first time ever, a team won two Blast Pro Series tournaments. This could have been Na’Vi, winners of the event in Copenhagen – they played in the Grand Final. But the victory was to Astralis, winners of the event in Istanbul.
For the first time, such a big CS:GO tournament took place in Portugal. Many critics and pro players gave very warm feedback to the organizers and fans. Of course, this was the first ever Blast Pro event in Lisbon.
For the first time in 2018 (or ever), Astralis played on Cache. That was a map previously banned by zonic each time, but finally the Astralis coach chose Cache – and it was a good choice indeed.
For the first time ever, a team won all their matches at a tournament of Blast Pro Series. Of course, that was Astralis.

The Group Stage

The tournaments of Blast Pro Series are limited in time, so all six teams play at once on one scene, and all have a chance to play with every other team. Victories bring 3 points and drawn matches – 1 point.

There are no overtimes at such events, and all matches of the Group Stage are Bo1.

In Lisbon:

Astralis played very confidently. The most intense games for them were with NIP (16:11 on Overpass) and Cloud9 (16:14 on Inferno).
NaVi lost two times (to Astralis – 16:9 on Inferno; and MIBR – 16:2(!) on Mirage).
Cloud9, winners of ELEAGUE Major: Boston 2018, were surprisingly good at this event (considering their inconsistency). They almost proceeded to the Grand Final, but the Clutch Minister Xyp9x stole their draw match in the last round on Inferno.
MIBR played 4 times on Mirage (2 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw). Another map for them was Inferno (loss to Astralis).
FaZe Clan and NIP had no victories at this event, only draws and losses. For FaZe it’s quite a disappointment after their triumph at Epicenter 2018.

So, again pro players are eager to demonstrate their skills on the best CS maps from our list.

Infographic Blast Pro Series Lisabon 2018

The Grand Final

Astralis played with Natus Vincere all three maps of the Bo3 game. Here is a short review of this Grand Final mentioning some rounds which make people so love CS:GO as an Esport.

Usually after such events, the number of active players increases significantly.

Overpass It seemed like victory was in the hands of NaVi. They were so incredibly powerful on this map that all the attempts of Astralis looked very weak. The final score here was 7:16.

Still, that turned out to be almost the same as the victory of Team Liquid on Train at ESL Pro League Season 8.

Cache It was super interesting to see Astralis playing this map – it seemed like they never do so on the professional arena. The beginning of the match wasn’t very promising for them, but Astralis are well-known kings of comebacks. They won 16:9.

On this map, it’s worthwhile to pay attention to these rounds:

R4 - the situation was changing drastically. After a lost pistols round, Astralis tasted victory.
R5 – in a 2v1 situation, the Astralis guys defeated s1mple, the best Esports player in the world.
R7 – Na’Vi win with amazing style.
R9 – a breakthrough for Astralis.
R11 – Natus Vincere are defeated and pushed to play eco.
R14 – a lost opportunity for Na’Vi.
R16 – Na’Vi win the second pistol round.
R18 – an amazing AWP style from s1mple. He made three kills, so his team won.
R19 – unexpectedly, Astralis won an eco round. Magisk made three kills with his Desert Eagle

Dust II The power of Astralis, winners of Faceit Major: London 2018, became so obvious on this map. A few excellent rounds from Natus Vincere couldn’t save the situation. The final score was 16:4.

R1 – a confident victory in a pistol round for Astralis.
R4 – an amazing knife kill from s1mple. After this, Astralis were pushed to almost full eco.
R6 – a few headshots from dupreeh, and Astralis win an eco round again.
R7 – a fantastic double kill from dev1ce on A site.
R8 – Magisk made four kills, and even s1mple with three kills couldn’t save Na’Vi.
R15 – the first half finished with the score 3:12, and this meant 10 rounds for Astralis in a row.
R16 – Na’Vi saw a glimpse of hope – they won a pistol round because Astralis couldn’t win the B site.
R17 – a deciding round. Natus Vincere lost and were pushed to a full eco. They didn’t recover in this game.

Astralis won $125,000 at Blast Pro Series: Lisbon 2018. It was their 10th title this year. After winning Intel Grand Slam, Astralis’ prize money totals more than $3.6M.