While they are absent from the ongoing IEM Katowice 2023, Astralis get a much needed confidence boost in the CCT North Europe event.

A new coach and a revamped roster surely must be some of the key ingredients for Astralis to help them regain their champion form throughout the new competitive season. The Danes didn’t make it to IEM Katowice 2023 after underperforming in the previous year, which put them below the invite threshold on the ESL world rankings.

In the meantime, they are grinding their way back to the top and most recently have taken the CCT North Europe Series 3 title with a 2-1 series score (16-8 Ancient, 8-16 Mirage, 19-15 Nuke) over Aurora Gaming. The young Russian team has been dominating the tier two scene over the past several months.

Aurora reached the CCT North Europe Series 3 grand finals boasting a mesmerizing 15 series winstreak, winning 30 out of 35 maps played before facing Astralis. Nonetheless, even when weakened, Astralis was a different kind of beast and all too much for Aurora to overcome.

CCT North Europe Series 3 provided Astralis not only a much needed confidence boost but also a practice ground for the upcoming ESL Pro League Season 17, which is set to begin on the 22nd of February in Malta, featuring the likes of FaZe Clan, Heroic, NAVI, and Team Spirit, to name a few. The team has also qualified for BLAST Spring Final, but they still have plenty of time to prepare for that as it begins in June 2023.

^{headline picture courtesy of PGL}

Astralis end Aurora’s incredible 15 series winstreak to claim CCT North Europe Series 3 title