Astralis are through PGL Astana 2025 playoffs following a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Virtus.pro this Thursday, May 13.
The Danish team advanced to the playoffs with a 3-1 record in the Swiss group stage, having beaten paiN and ODDIK, and lost one series to Team Spirit.
While it may not sound much, this will be Astralis’ first playoff appearance since PGL Cluj-Napoca in February. More importantly, it’s good news for the Astralis organization as a whole, as they’re reportedly looking for a buyer after not qualifying for the BLAST.tv Austin Major.
HooXi leads Astralis to PGL Astana 2025 playoffs
Photo via PGL
Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen’s impact can’t be ignored. The in-game leader agreed to stand in for Astralis at PGL Astana and helped them to achieve their best result in months.
HooXi had been away from competition since July 2024, when G2 removed him from the team. Although he lifted trophies with G2, critics always criticized him for his poor mechanics and struggle to get frags on the board.
It turns out that time away from competition and grinding FACEIT, as he admitted, is making all the difference at PGL Astana. Not only is HooXi making Astralis play better as a team, but he’s far from being a liability when it comes to his individual skills, as he’s keeping up with the rest of the team fragging-wise.
We are also seeing Martin “stavn” Lund emerge as a potential MVP candidate in PGL Astana, as he was one of the best players in the group stage. It’s adamant for Astralis that stavn goes back to his form from the HEROIC days because Nicolai “device” Reedtz can’t carry them in every match.
While Astralis’ adversary in the quarterfinals is still undefined, their fans can’t help to imagine that the team is capable of making a deep run in Kazakhstan.
Astralis will find out who their next opponent is tomorrow, May 14, when the PGL Astana group stage ends.