Danes on retreat

Astralis and ESL playoffs is pretty decent combo. The Danes haven't missed one since ESL One New York in 2017, and it sure looked like they'd been gifted a good shot at a new one at IEM Global Challenge.

First they won against an amputated Complexity, and then BIG shocked Vitality to set them up for a winners bracket game vs the Danes. In a regular season, that'd be an Astralis win in 9 out of 10 matches. But nothing makes sense in 2020.

We're not going to pull out Godwin's Law, but we don't think Denmark has been bullied this hard by Germans since 1940.

TL;DR: syrsoN had an absolute ball, leading BIG to a 22-19 win on Vertigo, and combining with k1to for a 16-10 victory on Dust 2. Meanwhile Xyp9x continued his questionable form after the comeback, but once again denying Bubzkji the chance to play.

Xyp9x and Astralis will get another chance to qualify tomorrow, when they face off against Vitality in the decider's match. We don't know about you, but we're pretty hype for that.

But what's the reward for winning against Vitality and ZywOo you ask? Facing off against Natus Vincere and s1mple. Yikes.

The other Danes, didn't do better than Astralis - quite the contrary actually. You can't fault cadiaN for lack of hype or energy, but despite the IGL's heroics, his team got outdone by FURIA in their losers match. At least Momma cadiaN is still the most wholesome in the world.