In a matchup that used to be known as the "Danish-Derby", Heroic have clinched an IEM Rio 2024 playoff spot over Astralis. They beat their former core by doing so.
International squad Heroic have guaranteed themselves an appearance in the IEM Rio 2024 playoffs, they beat their former arch rivals of Astralis in a convincing fashion.
Heroic have beaten their former core to advance in Rio!
It happened almost one year ago. Astralis signed the Heroic duo of Martin "stavn" Lund and Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard. Casper "cadiaN" Møllerwent to Liquid and Heroic had to quit their all danish project and go international.
After Astralis got rid of Alexander "br0" Bro a month ago, they introduced another former Heroic member to their roster in cadiaN,who took over the leadership duties as well.
Yesterday marked the first time Heroic faced an Astralis squad that had 3 of their former players on its side. They were more than ready for it.
After upsetting G2 in their opening game on Monday, they came out just as sharp yesterday versus the Danes.
Heroic converted their map pick of Mirage by 13-9, followed by an impressive 13-7 win on Astralis' pick of Ancient.
It's a 2v5 from @NertzCS & @sjuushCSGO to get things going in Mirage #IEM pic.twitter.com/C2f9h1TZy7
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 8, 2024
Guy "Nertz" Iluz shined bright for Heroic, delivering 39 kills across both played maps.
It's just that EASY for @NertzCS #IEM pic.twitter.com/sSRwruztVp
— ESL Counter-Strike (@ESLCS) October 8, 2024
Heroic in game leader Damjan "kyxsan" Stoilkovski was very pleased with his team's performance:
Won 2-0 against @AstralisCS and we are in the playoffs of @IEM Rio Next game tomorrow for semi-finals spot. Ggs
— kyxsan (@kyxsancs) October 8, 2024
His team now has a chance to skip the quarters and go directly to the semi-finals, if they can beat Team Vitality later today.
Whilst this is an incredible accomplishment for Heroic, to beat the team that now owns 3 of their former players, it is disappointing for Astralis.
The Danes have one more chance of reaching the IEM Rio 2024 playoffs tonight versus Russian side Virtus Pro.
They need to step up big time, as they are yet to win a single best of three series with cadiaN at the helm.
What do you think about Astralis' chances? Can they beat VP tonight?