After a resounding 2-0 victory over Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer's team, Astralis are set to meet the winner of BIG - MOUZ next on their road towards the grand final.

The lower-bracket semi-final of ESL Pro League Season 12 Europe was a one-sided affair, with Astralis capitalizing on Owen "⁠oBo⁠" Schlatter's absence for Complexity and winning 16-6 on Vertigo and 16-8 on Nuke.

The Danish powerhouse found themselves in the lower-bracket of the tournament after HEROIC overpowered them on Wednesday (16-7 Vertigo, 16-7 Nuke), but redeemded themselves by defeating Spirit and Complexity. Astralis will need to win two more games to reach the grand final, where they would start the BO5 with a one-map disadvantage.

With Niels Christian "⁠NaToSaphiX⁠" Sillassen standing-in for Complexity, the Juggernaut was unable to deliver in the playoffs, securing just one win — over ENCE —, and finishing 5-6th.

Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz's triple in the pistol enabled Astralis to build steam early into Vertigo, with the fully Danish team sitting on seven rounds before Complexity managed their second. Unable to capitalize on early advantages in the following rounds, blameF's team fell further behind, finding themselves 12-2 down. The deficit was looking to be extended as Peter "⁠dupreeh⁠" Rasmussen took down three on the entry in the final round, but Valentin "⁠poizon⁠" Vasilev pulled off a 1v5 to earn a third, consolidation round as CT.

The second pistol came down to a 4v4 post-plant on A, which Astralis clutched with a smoke defuse, but Complexity replied with a force-buy. At 14-6, device nailed down three with the AWP and dupreeh finished off the map, 16-6, with an ace on B.

Complexity had a rough time on Nuke as well, as Astralis were off to a 5-2 lead on their map pick despite losing the T-side pistol and followup. Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander's men found a lot of success on the outside plays, but blameF kept his team afloat, pushing them to five rounds (8-5).

Success in a key force-buy allowed Astralis to finish the offensive side on a high, 10-5. Force-buy wars marked the early part of the second half, with six rounds traded back and forth before Astralis chained two together, making it 14-8. The series was concluded right then and there, 16-8 on Nuke, and 2-0 for the series.

Astralis	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussendupreeh	47 - 18	+29	85.0	1.59
Emil 'Magisk' ReifMagisk	34 - 29	+5	88.0	1.21
Nicolai 'device' Reedtzdevice	30 - 23	+7	68.9	1.20
Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossandergla1ve	32 - 29	+3	81.7	1.19
Patrick 'es3tag' Hansenes3tag	29 - 31	-2	80.0	1.18

Complexity	K - D	+/-	ADR	Rating 2.0
Benjamin 'blameF' BremerblameF	32 - 31	+1	79.5	1.04
Valentin 'poizon' Vasilevpoizon	26 - 35	-9	59.0	0.78
Kristian 'k0nfig' Wieneckek0nfig	27 - 34	-7	70.5	0.77
Niels Christian 'NaToSaphiX' SillassenNaToSaphiX	26 - 37	-11	65.4	0.77
William 'RUSH' WierzbaRUSH	19 - 35	-16	60.8	0.65