Astralis advanced to the quarter-finals at ESL One Cologne after beating dignitas 2-1 (16-19 on Cobblestone, 16-10 on Mirage, and 16-14 on Cache). Astralis, who used Danny “zonic” Sørensen as a stand-in because Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen underwent a surgery, faced their fellow Danes dignitas in the first decider match at ESL One Cologne. The first map of the best-of-three series was Cobblestone and Astralis, who started on the CT-side, picked up the pistol round after Finn “karrigan” Andersen’s triple kill. dignitas replied right afterwards, winning the force buy. TFW when you miss the chance to become a Legend After dignitas made it 4-1, Astralis took control with pistols and Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth’s continuous double and triple kills brought the score 9-5 in favor of Astralis. Andersen’s quad AWP kill gave Astralis their tenth round as they had a big lead going into the second half. Andersen & company grabbed the first three rounds of the second half but dignitas responded with three of their own, making it 13-8. Astralis came alive after losing another three rounds and extended their lead to 14-11. Just when Astralis were about to get 4 match points, Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke clutched a 1vs4, keeping his team alive and dignitas later tied the map at 14-14. dignitas captured the match point but couldn’t win against four Tec-9s and an AK-47 as the match went to overtime. dignitas finished the first overtime half 17-16 ahead. Jesper “TENZKI” Plougmann’s triple kill in the first round of the second overtime made it 18-16 and they closed it out 19-16. Xyp9x delivered on all three maps The series continued on Mirage where the CT-sided dignitas picked up the pistol round but couldn’t stop Astralis in the following one. dignitas could not find any answer to Astralis and called for a timeout when they were trailing 1-7. The timeout wasn’t helpful as dignitas got only four kills in the subsequent three rounds, extending Astralis’lead to 11-1. Nicolai “device” Reedtz & Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander almost clutched a 2vs5 but dignitas finally got a round thanks to Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen’s 1vs1 victory but it was a pyrrhic one as Astralis led 13-2 at halftime. Andersen & company faced a similar situation in the second half on Mirage as they did on Cobblestone but this time they prevailed and managed to close the game 16-10, preventing dignitas’ comeback. zonic struggled as a stand-in The Danish teams went to Cache to decide it all and Plougmann’s 1vs3 clutch sealed the deal in the pistol round as he gave his team the 1-0 lead. Lauridsen & co. also secured the first weapon round but failed to make it 6-0 as Andersen’s two insane AWP shots saved the round for Astralis in which they had a 2vs4 disadvantage (5-1). Højsleth’s 1vs2 clutch made it 5-3 and Astralis took control of the half by winning close rounds and led 9-6 at halftime. Ruben “RUBINO” Villarroel did not get bored of clutching and won another one as he gifted his team the second half pistol round (9-7). Astralis gave up the lead to Lauridsen’s team but took it right back, making it 11-10. Astralis won the match 16-14 and the series 2-1 despite all the hardships and advanced to the quarter-finals. dignitas, on the other hand, got eliminated in the group stage.
TFW when you miss the chance to become a Legend After dignitas made it 4-1, Astralis took control with pistols and Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth’s continuous double and triple kills brought the score 9-5 in favor of Astralis. Andersen’s quad AWP kill gave Astralis their tenth round as they had a big lead going into the second half. Andersen & company grabbed the first three rounds of the second half but dignitas responded with three of their own, making it 13-8. Astralis came alive after losing another three rounds and extended their lead to 14-11. Just when Astralis were about to get 4 match points, Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke clutched a 1vs4, keeping his team alive and dignitas later tied the map at 14-14. dignitas captured the match point but couldn’t win against four Tec-9s and an AK-47 as the match went to overtime. dignitas finished the first overtime half 17-16 ahead. Jesper “TENZKI” Plougmann’s triple kill in the first round of the second overtime made it 18-16 and they closed it out 19-16. 
Xyp9x delivered on all three maps The series continued on Mirage where the CT-sided dignitas picked up the pistol round but couldn’t stop Astralis in the following one. dignitas could not find any answer to Astralis and called for a timeout when they were trailing 1-7. The timeout wasn’t helpful as dignitas got only four kills in the subsequent three rounds, extending Astralis’lead to 11-1. Nicolai “device” Reedtz & Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander almost clutched a 2vs5 but dignitas finally got a round thanks to Mathias “MSL” Lauridsen’s 1vs1 victory but it was a pyrrhic one as Astralis led 13-2 at halftime. Andersen & company faced a similar situation in the second half on Mirage as they did on Cobblestone but this time they prevailed and managed to close the game 16-10, preventing dignitas’ comeback. 
zonic struggled as a stand-in The Danish teams went to Cache to decide it all and Plougmann’s 1vs3 clutch sealed the deal in the pistol round as he gave his team the 1-0 lead. Lauridsen & co. also secured the first weapon round but failed to make it 6-0 as Andersen’s two insane AWP shots saved the round for Astralis in which they had a 2vs4 disadvantage (5-1). Højsleth’s 1vs2 clutch made it 5-3 and Astralis took control of the half by winning close rounds and led 9-6 at halftime. Ruben “RUBINO” Villarroel did not get bored of clutching and won another one as he gifted his team the second half pistol round (9-7). Astralis gave up the lead to Lauridsen’s team but took it right back, making it 11-10. Astralis won the match 16-14 and the series 2-1 despite all the hardships and advanced to the quarter-finals. dignitas, on the other hand, got eliminated in the group stage.