Astralis are off to a flying start at BLAST Pro Series Istanbul after defeating Virtus.pro in a one-sided Inferno match.

The opening match on the main stream started with the FACEIT Major champions taking the pistol round in convincing fashion and following that up with the anti-ecos for a 3-0 lead. Virtus.pro responded in the first gun round, but the Danes hit back immediately on the back of a triple-kill by Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander as he pushed banana.

After getting their economy back on track, Virtus.pro desperately tried to find a way back into the game, but without success. They kept losing every aim duel and just could not find any openers, with the scoreline blooming to a 13-1 advantage for the Danes before the Polish side finally got on the scoreboard again, following a quad kill by Michał "⁠snatchie⁠" Rudzki.

Astralis made light work of Virtus.pro

Astralis piled more misery on Virtus.pro's players by overturning a 2v4 situation in the pistol round, setting themselves up for a 15-2 lead. With no room for error, Virtus.pro were able to get a round on the board courtesy of a trio of shotgun kills by Jarosław "⁠pashaBiceps⁠" Jarząbkowski, but it merely delayed the inevitable as Astralis secured the following round to seal an easy victory.

BLAST Pro Series Istanbul 2018Best of 1 Virtus.proMatchpage 3 16 28th September 2018 Astralis 3Inferno 16

Virtus.pro	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Piotr 'morelz' Taterkamorelz	4 - 15	-11	42.5	0.52
Filip 'NEO' KubskiNEO	6 - 17	-11	71.2	0.52
Jarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskipashaBiceps	8 - 15	-7	33.5	0.50
Michał 'snatchie' Rudzkisnatchie	7 - 16	-9	47.3	0.47
Michał 'MICHU' MüllerMICHU	6 - 18	-12	48.1	0.44

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	18 - 8	+10	87.4	1.59
Nicolai 'device' Reedtzdevice	16 - 5	+11	80.2	1.58
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossandergla1ve	18 - 9	+9	108.6	1.57
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	13 - 4	+9	78.8	1.46
Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethXyp9x	16 - 5	+11	77.7	1.44

Group A TEAM M P Astralis 1 3 Cloud9 0 0 MIBR 0 0 Ninjas in Pyjamas 0 0 Space Soldiers 0 0 Virtus.pro 1 0 Cloud9 #21 Robin 'flusha' RönnquistTyler 'Skadoodle' LathamWilliam 'RUSH' WierzbaTimothy 'autimatic' TaMaikil 'Golden' Selim Soham 'valens' Chowdhury Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander Age: 23 Team: Astralis Rating 1.0: 1.01 Maps played: 1011 KPR: 0.68 DPR: 0.66 Virtus.pro #28 Filip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiMichał 'MICHU' MüllerPiotr 'morelz' TaterkaMichał 'snatchie' Rudzki MIBR #4 Gabriel 'FalleN' ToledoTarik 'tarik' CelikFernando 'fer' AlvarengaJake 'Stewie2K' YipMarcelo 'coldzera' David Janko 'YNk' Paunović Space Soldiers #39 Engin 'MAJ3R' KüpeliIsmailcan 'XANTARES' DörtkardeşBuğra 'Calyx' ArkınAhmet 'paz' KarahocaEngin 'ngiN' Kor Canpolat 'hardstyle' Yıldıran Michał 'snatchie' Rudzki Age: 20 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.05 Maps played: 535 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.69 Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Danny 'zonic' Sørensen Astralis #1 Andreas 'Xyp9x' HøjslethPeter 'dupreeh' RasmussenLukas 'gla1ve' RossanderNicolai 'device' ReedtzEmil 'Magisk' Reif Virtus.pro #28 Filip 'NEO' KubskiJarosław 'pashaBiceps' JarząbkowskiMichał 'MICHU' MüllerPiotr 'morelz' TaterkaMichał 'snatchie' Rudzki Jakub 'kuben' Gurczyński Jarosław 'pashaBiceps' Jarząbkowski Age: 30 Team: Virtus.pro Rating 1.0: 1.04 Maps played: 1480 KPR: 0.72 DPR: 0.69 Ninjas in Pyjamas #9 Patrik 'f0rest' LindbergChristopher 'GeT_RiGhT' AlesundDennis 'dennis' EdmanJonas 'Lekr0' OlofssonFredrik 'REZ' Sterner Faruk 'pita' Pita