5star eliminate Astralis at $1M FISSURE Playground 3

Mongolian team 5star eliminated Astralis from the $1,000,000 FISSURE Playground 3 tournament, defeating the Danish side 2-1 in a best-of-three. 5star had beaten compatriots The MongolZ earlier in the event.

The series opened on Inferno, where 5star took a 9-3 lead and closed the map 13-10. Dulguun hoolig4n Batsaikhan led 5star’s offense on Inferno. Astralis responded on Ancient with a 13-5 win, driven by Victor Staehr’s four kills in the pistol round.

The decider on Cache was closely contested. Gerelt-Od clouden Jargal won a late 1v1 at the end of the first half to make it 7-5 for 5star. Astralis then earned several retakes and a CT-side pistol to move ahead 11-9. 5star recovered in the closing rounds: clouden won another late duel, the Mongolian side disrupted Astralis’ economy, and Ariunjargal ariucle Yadam and Uuganbayar NEUZ Nyam-Otgon combined in clutch situations to secure the final rounds and the map.

5star entered the event ranked 127th in the world and have now eliminated The MongolZ and Astralis. Astralis, ranked 12th globally, are eliminated from the tournament.

The victory advances 5star to the next stage of FISSURE Playground 3. Individual highlights across the series included hoolig4n on Inferno, Staehr’s pistol performance on Ancient, and late-round heroics from clouden, ariucle and NEUZ on Cache.