The first and only club to win three Majors in a row, the Astralis team truly is a remarkable phenomenon. The tag also holds the record for the number of Majors won combined. The key players in the Danish roster haven’t missed a single tournament from Valve. In short, if there are best of the best in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, it’s Astralis.
The CS.MONEY Blog decided to look at the skins used by members of the Danish club to win their Majors.
Criteria for selection
We wanted to choose the most vibrant items used in the coolest highlights. That’s why we took one skin from each of the six Astralis finalists. Each weapon finish is associated with one of the player’s coolest rounds in Major finals — it’s not just a random gun from his inventory. By the way, we’ll list the highlights here as well.
Karambit Marble Fade — Kjaerbye vs Virtus.pro
In the finals of ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017, Astralis were having a hard time. The encounter stretched over all three maps. On each of them, the Danes had to put in maximum effort to win rounds.
Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye brought his A-game in this truly epochal confrontation. On the last map, Train, Markus effectively catapulted his team into the first place. His astonishing triple gave Astralis that much-needed victory in the round.
Afterward, all he had to do was flaunt his knife before an audience of millions. Which he did, fiddling with a gorgeous Karambit Marble Fade.
AWP Asiimov — device vs Natus Vincere
Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz currently plays for Ninjas in Pyjamas, but at the FACEIT Major 2018, he defended the colors of Astralis, creating a lot of trouble for Natus Vincere players. Just look at his play on Nuke! The Dane steadily covered the positions and expertly thwarted the opponent’s plans.
No need to go far for examples: check out this highlight. One player, one corridor, three frags, and a won round. With that kind of play, it’s a small wonder that he’s popped up on HLTV’s Player of the Year list seven times and was ranked #2 in 2018, losing the race only to s1mple.
Glock-18 Water Elemental — Xyp9x vs Virtus.pro
The community calls Andreas “Xyp9x” Hoyslet “clutch minister.” And you probably thought we’d be looking at one of his clutches in the Major? Well, you were wrong. We went back to the Major in Atlanta again.
In the second pistol round on the first map of the finals, Xyp9x made three frags and planted the C4, securing a win for his team. It’s an almost ordinary situation, but just watch him make that last frag! Luck? Skill? Leave your opinion on it in the comments.
SG 553 Danger Close — Magisk vs AVANGAR
The SG 553 nerf struck a fatal blow to the gun’s popularity, causing it to leave the meta. We elaborated on that nerf in another post, and now isn’t the time to delve into the matter.
For now, we suggest that you check out how Emil “Magisk” Reif took down three AVANGAR players to defend a planted bomb. In a situation this tricky, he didn’t panic and skillfully held his position, bringing his team another round in the grand final of the Major.
USP-S Neo-Noir — dupreeh vs Natus Vincere
The USP-S has long been the only standard CT pistol. At PGL Major Stockholm, for instance, the P2000 isn’t even in the top ten most used guns, unlike the Glock-18, the nerfed Desert Eagle, and, of course, the USP-S.
Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen masterfully reminded us just how powerful this weapon can be in capable hands in the FACEIT Major 2018 finals. Armed with a USP-S Neo-Noir, he fended off Natus Vincere players on Overpass’ long. The result: three colorful frags in the highlight below.
M4A4 Desolate Space — gla1ve vs Natus Vincere
Another highlight from the FACEIT Major 2018 Finals, and again on Nuke. Lucas “gla1ve” Rossander showed a good play outdoor: he made a frag, changed his position, and caught another enemy unawares. A simple yet very effective trick.
Gla1ve made both kills with an M4A4 Desolate Space, a classic finish for the M4. By the way, it’s also great for Halloween.
Before PGL Major Stockholm started, we were speculating if Astralis would make it to the finals and win their fourth Major in a row. It didn’t happen after all: the Danes left the tournament at the Legends Stage after losing three consecutive matches to NiP, Heroic, and Team Vitality. But even if their current results are far from the glory of their level two years ago, their outstanding performance will go down in CS:GO history.
Meanwhile, PGL Major Stockholm playoff stage is in full swing. Check out the CS.MONEY Major Hub, follow the tournament’s final stage, and participate in Challenges. Also, use the promo code WYARESHV to get 2000 coins, which you can use to get cool gifts. Enjoy the Major 🙂
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