In the veto, Astralis removed Anubis, paiN banned Ancient, Astralis picked Inferno, paiN chose Dust2, Astralis removed Mirage, and then finally, paiN banned Train.
On Inferno, paiN struck first by winning the pistol round, but their momentum was short-lived as Astralis quickly found their footing. The Danes continued to dominate the first half, heading into the break with a 9-3 lead. paiN managed to secure four rounds in the second half, but Astralis remained in control, closing out the map 13-7.
Dust2 began with Astralis surging to a 3-0 lead before paiN finally put up resistance. The first half remained tightly contested, ending in a dead-even tie. However, Astralis shifted into high gear after the break, suffocating paiN’s defence and conceding just three rounds before sealing a 13-9 victory to take the series.
Since returning from inactivity at the start of 2025, Nicolai “device” Reedtz has delivered an impressive performance, maintaining a 1.17 average rating across 11 maps. He played a key role in Astralis’ victories over FlyQuest and paiN, emerging as the team’s highest-rated player in the tournament so far.
The Danish squad are now set to face Team Spirit in the IEM Katowice Group Stage Opening Round on February 2.
What did the teams say?
Casper "cadiaN" Møller expressed his satisfaction with the result in a post-match interview, saying, “Today was much more similar to the way we play in practice. It’s all the small things about not exaggerating your moves and waiting for a flash or a teammate”.
“A year ago, I wouldn’t celebrate qualifying for Katowice, but that’s where we’re at the moment,” he continued.
He also addressed device’s return to form, saying, “We had a few rough tournaments at the start, but you can see that he is such a gifted player in terms of knowledge, in terms of microing movements, and he has top-tier mechanics too. It’s also good for the people that say I can’t activate him.”
Meanwhile, Rodrigo "biguzera" Bittencourt expressed his frustration with the team’s performance. “We’ve been saying that this hasn’t been our tournament for the whole week,” he stated.
“I showed a lot of low level and low mentality, I don’t know why, maybe I just need to refresh. We’re not disappointed in the result, but in the level of the game we showed,” he admitted.
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Opening CS2 cases will forever be one of the things I will always enjoy about the game. It’s simply something I will never get tired of, and I’m sure a ton of others feel the same way. Want to open a case but don’t know which one you should pick? Here are the best cases to open in CS2 for 2026.
Good CS2 gameplay is influenced by various aspects, including your experience as a player, your gear, your teammates, and your crosshair. If you want to aim correctly and annihilate your opponents, you’ll need a crosshair that does the trick. However, if you’re new to CS2 and still learning about the game, perhaps you don’t know the best CS:GO crosshair codes. The best way to find a suitable option is by choosing a code used by pro players. In this post, we will take a look at some of these choices and explain how you can import these codes to CS2.
![Top CSGO Crosshair Codes Used by Players in [year]](/imgs/news_7957/20241010/cache/1728566058_2944e6c64e1e22736e24___308_174.jpg "Top CSGO Crosshair Codes Used by Players in [year]")