Astralis Talent defeats GamerLegion to secure CCT North Europe Series 4 title
PoligonThe Danish academy team is now on a nine-match winning streak. Astralis Talent were crowned CCT North Europe Series 4 champions after beating GamerLegion in the grand final to secure the top prize of $22000. The final was a tight affair on two maps as the Danes took 30 rounds to defeat Overpass (16-14) before needing double overtime at Ancient (22-19).
According to GG.BET deutschland, the title is the biggest success the Astralis talents have achieved in their time together. They are currently ranked 73rd in the world and have only won titles at local events such as the Energive Cup 2022 and the NPF Invitational 2022.
For GamerLegion, this is their second consecutive final loss on the CCT circuit. The European team was previously beaten by another academy team, Spirit Academy, in the CCT West Europe Series 1. A second defeat of this kind is the worst possible preparation for the team's Paris Major Europe RMR campaign. The Major qualifier will take place from 6-14 April, and GamerLegion has been placed in Group A alongside teams such as FaZe, Natus Vincere and Outsiders.
Astrali's talent consists of two players who have already played in the main team, Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen and Kristoffer "Kristou" Aamand. They represented the organisation together at the Elisa Masters Espoo 2022, where they helped Astralis to a 3-4 finish. Their experience undoubtedly helped the young team, but it was Alexander "Altekz" Givskov who topped the leaderboard with a 1.33 rating in the final and a 1.24 rating throughout the tournament.
Astralis Talent started their tournament participation already in the closed qualifying round, where they defeated their compatriots from MASONIC. This qualified them for the Swiss system groups. Astralis Talent won 3-0, surprising many higher ranked teams, namely Sangal, VOYVODA and Nexus. In the playoffs, the Academy team scored even more points: They defeated Copenhagen Flames (2-0) and qualified for the grand final with 2-1 wins against SINNERS and 500.
Their opponent in the grand final, GamerLegion, was their toughest test. The European team is ranked 27th in the world and received a direct invitation to the play-off stage, which they made the most of with wins against ECSTATIC and SAW. Their next opponent was Let us cook, who surprisingly won against Fnatic. Janusz "Snax" Pogorzelski and co. brought GamerLegion to three maps, but could not stop them on their way to the grand final.
The Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek-led team entered the match as heavy favourites, but got off to a 7-0 start on the first map of Overpass and failed to close out Ancient after taking a 14-10 lead on the favoured CT side, losing their second CCT event final in a row.
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