This article is part of our CS:GO Recap series.
Day 3 of the ELeague Playoffs saw Astralis and OpTic Gaming punch their ticket to the Grand Finals, earning wins over SK Gaming and FaZe Clan, respectively.
Astralis blank SK Gaming
The first semifinal matchup of the day went rather well for Astralis as they managed to silence SK Gaming on arguably their two best maps. The series started out on Overpass, Astralis' initial map pick, and on cue the team quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead. That seemed to evaporate all at once, however, as SK Gaming put together their own rally to keep the score close at halftime. Unfortunately for SK, Astralis had a great second half thanks to Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth, who rallied his team to a map win 16-11. Højsleth would put together an impressive 52/35 KD and 124.4 ADR in the two-game series.
The second map of the best-of-three series may have been the most surprising result of the tournament as SK Gaming lost on Train for just the third time in the last 28 times they've played on the map. Perhaps more surprising, Astralis put together a commanding 12-3 at halftime, annihilating SK on their supposed best map. A late rally fueled by Gabriel "FalleN" Toledo's impressive movement and AWPing helped the Brazilians earn seven consecutive round wins on the defense to get back into the game. But that wouldn't last long as Astralis' Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye and Nicolai "device" Reedtz had a huge hand in taking the last two rounds away from SK to claim the map 16-12 and the series 2-0.
OpTic upset FaZe Clan en route to final
The second best-of-three series of the day also showcased a sweep, this time at the hands of the Green Wall, OpTic Gaming. If the first map was any indication, the North American team seemed to firing on all cylinders, as they cruised to a 16-3 Map 1 win on Train. Tarik "tarik" Celik led the team, accumulating a remarkable 25/9 KD followed by a shattering 125.1 ADR.
The second map would get a bit more interesting as each team seemed to trade runs of momentum in the first half. Even in a 10-5 hole to start the second half of Map 2, FaZe Clan would simply not give up, earning five consecutive defensive round wins to nearly knot up the map. Luckily for OpTic, their economy was at full strength for a much-needed buy round, a brilliant strategic move that allowed them to earn two round wins, extending their slight lead. Once again, though, FaZe wouldn't back down as they rallied to win the next two rounds. That was the end of the road, however, as OpTic's Will "RUSH" Wierzba came up big in the final three rounds to close out the map 16-12 and the series 2-0.
With the win, OpTic Gaming will advance to face Astralis in the Grand Final on Saturday. The climactic battle will take place at 4:00 PM EST on TBS.
