gla1ve plays down Spirit defeat: "Overall, I think we've looked pretty solid"

The Danish tactician says that the players are ready to turn the page as they prepare to take on Virtus.pro.

Astralis captain Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander has given little importance to Sunday's 2-1 loss to Spirit, the surprise package of IEM Katowice, in Group A's upper bracket final.

The Danish team missed the chance to reach the semi-finals and endured one of the worst defeats in their history when they were humbled 16-1 on Dust2, but gla1ve is refusing to draw too many conclusions from that series as they prepare for Friday's bout with Virtus.pro.

"It was very sad when we lost," gla1ve told reporters on Wednesday during a press conference. "Everyone was like, 'What just happened?' I think we had lost like that only once, and it was a long time ago. It's not something recognisable for us.

"We sat for an hour or two and talked it through, and then we decided to watch the game and discuss what we had done wrong and what we could do next time. That's how we move on from the game and try to forget it. We are all on the same page about what happened and what we should do next time. I don't think we should change much because, overall, I think we've looked pretty solid, we looked pretty good as a team against EG and mousesports, so I kind of expect us to have a good game against VP and maybe even go all the way."

With Astralis already through to the playoffs before the upper bracket final, there was relatively little riding on that series, but gla1ve rejected suggestions that his team didn't have the right mindset heading into the match.

"We had some talks about it after the game, if it was something in the back of our minds, that we knew we were already qualified," he said. "But we came to the conclusion that it didn't have anything to do with that. We did the same thing, we prepared as much as we would have prepared for any other game.

"I wouldn't say that we underestimated Spirit or didn't take the game seriously. Spirit played really well and we didn't, and I think a few rounds could have turned it around and it could easily have been a 2-0 victory for us if we had closed out the Train game. It felt like we should have had more T rounds. I think our CT side was pretty good, but it kind of got screwed in the end."

gla1ve believes that his team have learned a valuable lesson from the defeat against Spirit and will make some slight adjustments for the quarter-final clash with Virtus.pro, who enter the playoffs high on confidence following 2-0 victories over Ninjas in Pyjamas, Vitality and FURIA.

"All these CIS teams are really aggressive, they take a lot of map control all the time, both on the T and the CT sides," gla1ve explained. "What we need to do is fight a bit more for it. I think we need to make some changes to our game, use a bit more utility at the start of rounds instead of saving it. We are trying to work on it. Let's see if it works."

As the tournament enters the playoff stages, a big talking point has been Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif's recent slump in form. The 22-year-old finished the IEM Global Challenge and the BLAST Premier Spring Groups in the red (0.98 and 0.99 ratings), and has averaged a 0.84 rating in IEM Katowice. He is also on the low end of the spectrum when it comes to fragging and damage output.

"There's no doubt that my individual game has not been at the highest level," Magisk said. "I think everyone has noticed it, and I have noticed it, too. It's not the most fun thing when you hit a period when things are not working out for you. In the end, I think it comes down to confidence and getting a little success individually.

"I have focused on it and I'm working on it. I'm doing a lot more individual work to try to catch up with everyone. I think that's just human nature that sometimes you have periods when things aren't working out. And I think this is the first time in Astralis that I've hit one of those periods. I think it's only fair that it's finally my turn. But I'm still focused on playing the game, helping the team as much as I can, even though I might not be performing on the same level individually. I can still help the team and I can still contribute with a lot of good things. It's something I have to look at and make sure that I improve on. I also have to look at the team and help them in the best way that I can."

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