Gambit eliminate Astralis from IEM Summer; OG defeat Virtus.pro to secure playoffs

The Danish powerhouse ends the $250,000 tournament in 9-12th place after a 2-0 defeat to the world's No. 1 team.

Astralis was playing catchup throughout the series against Gambit as the two teams crossed paths in an early elimination match, with the Russian side reigning supreme (16-8 Inferno, 16-7 Overpass) and marching on in the tournament. To earn a place in the playoffs, Gambit will have to overcome one more team - Complexity.

Posting a 1.81 rating for the series, Sergey "⁠Ax1Le⁠" Rykhtorov was a thorn in Astralis' side, with a solid performance from Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif proving insuficiend to keep his team afloat. Astralis' 9-12th finish in IEM Summer follows a 6th place from Flashpoint 3, with the Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen and co. hoping for a better showing at the final event of the season, IEM Cologne.

Ax1Le was in the zone against Astralis, aceing the Danes on Inferno

In the match played on the B stream, OG brushed aside Virtus.pro (16-10 Mirage, 16-11 Overpass), building on their strong opening win over Ninjas in Pyjamas and securing at least a place in the quarter-finals. Meanwhile, Dzhami "⁠Jame⁠" Ali's squad has been relegated to the lower bracket where they will have to overcome Spirit and the winner of Ninjas in Pyjamas - HEROIC to reach playoffs.

Gambit looked unstoppable early on Inferno as Ax1Le's sharp aim propelled them to a 5-0 CT lead. Lucas "⁠Bubzkji⁠" Andersen and Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth pulled off a 2v4 on B to get Astralis back into it, with Magisk coming online to make it a competitive half in the end. The Danes claimed the pistol and followup after the switch, only for Gambit to shut the door on the comeback with seven unanswered rounds (16-8).

The Russian team's Terrorist side was equally dangerous on Overpass. With Ax1Le topping the scoreboard again, they dominated Astralis across the board, taking 10 rounds in the first half. Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander's team got a couple of rounds to start their offense, but Gambit closed out the series in no time as Timofey "⁠interz⁠" Yakushin clutched out a 1v1 on A in the final round.

The momentum swung back and forth in the first half of Mirage as both OG and Virtus.pro went on five-round streaks, but Aleksi "⁠Aleksib⁠" Virolainen's team switched to the offense slightly behind, 8-7. That deficit was quickly nullified as Aleksib's men puz up a near-flawless T-side, winning their map pick 16-10.

On Overpass, Virtus.pro's pick, OG were barely contested in the first half as the European side got the upper hand after winning the second-round force and didn't let go. Nikolaj "⁠niko⁠" Kristensen picked up a couple of key multikills early on and the rest of the team chipped in, building to an 11-4 lead. Down 13-4 shortly, Jame's team didn't falter and brought the game back to 13-11 with a strong streak, but OG managed to break their bank and bring it over the line, 16-11.

IEM Summer 2021Best of 3 GambitMatchpage 2 0 4th June 2021 Astralis 16Inferno 8 16Overpass 7

Gambit	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Sergey 'Ax1Le' RykhtorovAx1Le	53 - 24	+29	108.3	1.82
Dmitry 'sh1ro' Sokolovsh1ro	35 - 19	+16	77.0	1.34
Vladislav 'nafany' Gorshkovnafany	36 - 28	+8	87.8	1.25
Abay 'HObbit' KhassenovHObbit	30 - 26	+4	74.0	1.10
Timofey 'interz' Yakushininterz	22 - 26	-4	54.7	0.89

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	37 - 36	+1	84.2	1.19
Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethXyp9x	22 - 34	-12	61.9	0.76
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	23 - 35	-12	62.3	0.76
Lucas 'Bubzkji' AndersenBubzkji	24 - 36	-12	50.1	0.73
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossandergla1ve	17 - 37	-20	42.8	0.54

IEM Summer 2021Best of 3 OGMatchpage 2 0 4th June 2021 Virtus.pro 16Mirage 10 16Overpass 11

OG	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Mateusz 'mantuu' Wilczewskimantuu	37 - 27	+10	76.2	1.27
Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn Vangsåvalde	40 - 25	+15	78.4	1.24
Nikolaj 'niko' Kristensenniko	43 - 36	+7	80.5	1.20
Shahar 'flameZ' ShushanflameZ	38 - 35	+3	77.5	1.17
Aleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenAleksib	31 - 30	+1	66.5	1.06

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Dzhami 'Jame' AliJame	39 - 35	+4	73.4	1.11
Mareks 'YEKINDAR' GaļinskisYEKINDAR	35 - 40	-5	77.6	1.00
Alexey 'Qikert' GolubevQikert	24 - 34	-10	54.7	0.87
Timur 'buster' Tulepovbuster	31 - 42	-11	64.6	0.82
Sanjar 'SANJI' KulievSANJI	24 - 39	-15	56.4	0.74

OG #20 Valdemar 'valde' Bjørn VangsåAleksi 'Aleksib' VirolainenNikolaj 'niko' KristensenMateusz 'mantuu' WilczewskiShahar 'flameZ' Shushan Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen Age: 28 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1806 KPR: 0.74 DPR: 0.65 Emil 'Magisk' Reif Age: 23 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 1266 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.63 Virtus.pro #9 Sanjar 'SANJI' KulievTimur 'buster' TulepovAlexey 'Qikert' GolubevDzhami 'Jame' AliMareks 'YEKINDAR' Gaļinskis Sergey 'Ax1Le' Rykhtorov Age: 19 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 1.09 Maps played: 746 KPR: 0.73 DPR: 0.63 Lucas 'Bubzkji' Andersen Age: 22 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 772 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.67 Spirit #14 Leonid 'chopper' VishnyakovNikolay 'mir' BityukovViktor 'sdy' OrudzhevAbdul 'degster' GasanovBoris 'magixx' Vorobiev Dzhami 'Jame' Ali Age: 22 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.14 Maps played: 1021 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.55 Astralis #5 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderEmil 'Magisk' ReifLucas 'Bubzkji' Andersen Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander Age: 25 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 0.99 Maps played: 1508 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.66 HEROIC #2 Casper 'cadiaN' MøllerIsmail 'refrezh' AliMartin 'stavn' LundRené 'TeSeS' MadsenRasmus 'sjuush' Beck Complexity #13 Justin 'jks' SavageWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaKristian 'k0nfig' WieneckeValentin 'poizon' VasilevBenjamin 'blameF' Bremer Gambit #1 Abay 'HObbit' KhassenovTimofey 'interz' YakushinSergey 'Ax1Le' RykhtorovDmitry 'sh1ro' SokolovVladislav 'nafany' Gorshkov Nikolaj 'niko' Kristensen Age: 23 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 1122 KPR: 0.70 DPR: 0.66 Aleksi 'Aleksib' Virolainen Age: 24 Team: OG Rating 1.0: 0.97 Maps played: 895 KPR: 0.65 DPR: 0.66 Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth Age: 25 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.03 Maps played: 1790 KPR: 0.67 DPR: 0.61 Ninjas in Pyjamas #10 Nicolai 'device' ReedtzFredrik 'REZ' SternerHampus 'hampus' PoserNicolas 'Plopski' Gonzalez ZamoraLinus 'LNZ' Holtäng Timofey 'interz' Yakushin Age: 20 Team: Gambit Rating 1.0: 0.95 Maps played: 666 KPR: 0.58 DPR: 0.59