Astralis have picked up their first victory at EPICENTER 2017 after defeating Liquid 2-0 (16-11 on Inferno, 16-12 on Train).

Starting out as Terrorists on their map pick, Inferno, Liquid managed to secure the first pistol round of the series, but Astralis rallied back immediately, winning four rounds in a row.

Then, a triple-kill from Josh "⁠jdm64⁠" Marzano put his team back in the game, and the North Americans started racking up rounds, eventually securing a 6-4 lead.Astralis still tried to retake control of the game, but they merely picked up two more rounds before the end of the half.

After a back and forth pistol round that Astralis picked up, Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander and co. managed to restore parity at 9-9. And even though the first gun round of the half would go to Liquid, the Danes did not let their foot off the games as they went on a great run to close out the map, 16-11.

Astralis will take on the loser of the match between G2 and North for a playoff spot

Train, Astralis' map choice, began with a slow-paced and keenly-contested pistol round, which the Danish squad eventually picked up. Liquid wanted to turn things around right from the start, but Astralis did not let them win the following force-buy despite losing every player.

The North Americans finally managed to respond six rounds into the game, but they could not build up their economy as Astralis regained control of proceedings. A quad-kill from jdm64 then gave Liquid some breathing room, with that round sparking a great run from the North Americans, who would cut the gap to 9-6 by half-time.

Liquid got off to a great start to the second half, winning five rounds in a row to pick up the lead for the first time on the map. However, the Danes tightened up their defense and continuously kept their opponents at bay, winning seven of the next eight rounds to lock down the map, 16-12.

EPICENTER 2017 Best of 3 Astralis Matchpage 2 0 Liquid 16 Inferno 11 16 Train 12