Astralis Sweep SK Gaming to Break Their Semifinal Curse at ELEAGUE

After both teams advanced following intense quarterfinal matches, SK Gaming and Astralis—the two winners from Group C—would meet again.

Having just played each other in a fantastic set at IEM Oakland, the semifinal was sure to be one for the books, but little to no one thought it would've been to this extent.

Brazil Meets a Different Denmark on Overpass

On the first map, Overpass, SK Gaming looked comfortable on Astralis' pick.

Having just played a crucial Overpass to take their ELEAGUE quarterfinal over Dignitas, SK were plenty warmed up and pulled away to a quick 5-0 lead over the Danes. 

A change of pace from Astralis would go a long way, though. Constant change in tactics from new in-game leader gla1ve and a massive showing from Xyp9x and would lead Astralis to end the first half just one round behind the Brazilians at 8-7.

After picking up the second-half pistol round, Astralis began their comeback, cruising round after round. The wins not only forced SK into a struggling economy, but it proved to disturb their confidence, defaulting to the same hyper-passive T-side they showed in the final tense rounds against Dignitas the day before.

SK eventually stopped Astralis' run at seven straight rounds, but the damage was done. Solid performances from Xyp9x (again) and Dupreeh on the B-site left SK scrambling to find consistent bomb plants throughout their T-side.

In the end, Astralis pulled through and forced the Brazilians to recover on their home map, Train—a map where they've comfortably enjoyed a 17-game undefeated streak at LANs.

All Aboard the Danish Express

Suffice to say other teams don't normally expect to beat SK Gaming on Train. But if anyone were to do it, it'd be Astralis. At IEM Oakland, the Danes came closer to ending the streak than any other team in months. And just the day before, Astralis handled NiP to clinch this semifinal berth.

After the first few rounds where Astralis took the pistol, it showed. What was a 3-0 lead became a 5-0 lead and then a 9-0 lead. Just as the CS:GO world wondered if a 16-0 on Train would happen, SK pulled back three rounds to end their dismal T-side with their heads between the legs. Astralis held a 12-3 lead with a crucial pistol round looming over their ELEAGUE chances.

SK didn't win that pistol round but managed to win the next force-buy round, making their final tournament defense on their near-flawless CT side interesting.

Just as Astralis had dominated the Brazilians, SK dominated the Danes. Captain FalleN showed up and carried his team round by round to a comeback. When it seemed like it was enough, though, the Brazilians' luck ran out, and Astralis had managed to do the unthinkable.

If you said Astralis—the team that perennially dropped out in the semifinals of LANs in 2016—would clinch a grand final spot in one of the last two major CS:GO tournaments of the year by defeating the World No. 1 SK Gaming on Train, Counter-Strike fans would've laughed in your face without hesitation.

But it happened.

What's more, it doesn't look like much else can stop these Danes.