Astralis edge out FaZe in a thriller - ESL Pro League S23

Astralis nudged past a resilient FaZe in a game that made us wish FaZe weren't so awful most of the time - because they're so fun when they're good.

This was a nostalgic performance from both teams, with Astralis playing like the old version of Astralis and FaZe playing like... well, a motivated FaZe. At least that's how we're deciding to view this game. It was a banger, and we'd rather believe it's because both are great than the alternative.

Staehr has been superb for Astralis this whole event, and even in defeat he managed to have highly impactful map on Dust 2. Of Astralis' 5 CT rounds, he was directly responsible for at least three of them, and somehow managed five opening kills in the map. If Astralis weren't so dead set on losing man advantages, this might have been a 2-0, and much less of a classic.

He was once again fantastic on Ancient, though it was noticeable how much less comfortable frozen and Twistzz were on the map. Both strolled around Dust 2 like Hugh Hefner in the Playboy mansion, but didn't have the same swagger on Ancient as phzy and Staehr ripped FaZe apart.

Inferno was a great map to watch (and as we all know, it isn't always), with Jabbi this time leading the charge for Astralis and frozen once more doing the same for FaZe. It's easy to forget sometimes how good frozen is, because he's stuck on this team, but man he is a scary player. Twistzz, though, was notably absent, as Astralis got production from all four non-HooXi players, and the difference came down to that little bit of depth in the end.

Why can't FaZe be this fun all the time?

NAVI were comfortably beaten by Legacy to the point where you'd assume Legacy were the top 10 team here.

We honestly have no idea how good Legacy are; they won some events last year, have brought arT into the fold now as IGL and look legitimately terrifying to play against again. Is this just a blip? Should we not be reading into these online results? Probably on both fronts, but they're just so fun to watch.

arT was 1-9 on the T side of Dust 2 as his teammates racked up nine rounds, and if that isn't a perfect example of selfless IGLing, we don't know what is. He finished with 4 kills in a 13-4 win, with all four teammates popping off, which is quite literally exactly how he drew it up. He threw himself into the fire and dumau brought the flames behind him.

NAVI had no idea how to stop it, either.

Mirage was much closer, but another surprisingly stellar performance from saadzin - who, despite middling numbers, has quietly impressed all tournament and looks far more reliable than ever before. It wasn't that he used to miss easy shots, it's that he didn't seem to know how to get them, but he found himself in the right place at the right time to collect some impactful and important, but simple kills.

Frankly for NAVI, it was a big off-day in an online game, and we won't draw too much. But they don't look like contenders right now, either.

G2 will have to play again tomorrow as they did not have enough to beat a classic woxic and XANTARES double team.

XANTARES continues to be an absolute behemoth, and basically won Mirage on his own; it was a 13-10, and there were multiple rounds where his intervention turned a lost round into a won one, or won a round before it even began. A masterclass of rifling on Mirage.

woxic took up the mantle on Anubis, though SunPayus on the other side woke up and was having a stormer as well. It was a fun watch to see the two AWPers going toe-to-toe in a game of how many bad riflers can they kill. Lots, apparently.

Credit to Aurora, whose decision to bring in soulfly looks to be getting better by the day.

The MongolZ did not fall foul of 3DMAX's tricks, but they were definitely pushed to their limit against the Frenchmen who remain - or have re-become - one of the most difficult to beat and banana skin-y teams at these events. They're just unlike anyone else, and you have to play their game to stop them, or else. MongolZ did it perfectly, and are deserved playoff spot-takers.

FUT absolutely smacked B8, with dem0n looking back to his best. His first bullet aim is among the best in the world, and B8 just couldn't get near him. You can talk all you like about how FUT play stylistically and how it's actually very similar to some of the elite teams, but it means naught if you don't have shooters. FUT have shooters, and dem0n looks well on his way to being a top 20 player in the future.

FURIA lived to fight another day, predictably, as they dispatched of paiN with relative comfort. molodoy had been having a slow event, highlighted by the desk beforehand, and he did not take kindly to that. He put paiN's collective heads down the toilet and flushed it.