Astralis have recovered from their poor start in the USA, taking down FUT in a quick 2-0 at BLAST Rivals Fort Worth. The win sees Astralis through to the playoffs, while coach András “coolio” Fercsák’s stand-in stint with FUT comes to a quick end. Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen, who topped the server against FUT, will now prep his troops for a battle against the loser of GamerLegion vs. NAVI.
Related—BLAST Rivals Fort Worth: Everything you need to know
Team Rosters – FUT vs. Astralis – BLAST Rivals Forth Worth 2026
| FUT | Astralis |
|---|---|
| Dmytro “dem0n” Myroshnychenko | Victor “Staehr” Staehr |
| Aulon “Krabeni” Fazlija | Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard |
| Mykyta “cmtry” Samolotov | Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen |
| Džiugas “dziugss” Steponavičius | Love “phzy” Smidebrant |
| András “coolio” Fercsák (C) (stand-in) | Gytis “ryu” Glušauskas |
| Casper “ruggah” Due (C) |
FUT came to Fort Worth with one of the team’s big X-factors, Laurențiu “lauNX” Țârlea, skipping the event due to health issues. In his stead, the team’s coach coolio stepped back into the server.
Match Recap – FUT vs. Astralis – BLAST Rivals Forth Worth
- FUT removed Inferno
- Astralis removed Anubis
- FUT picked Mirage
- Astralis picked Nuke
- FUT removed Overpass
- Astralis removed Dust2
- Ancient was left over
Map 1 – Mirage – HooXi brings the heat
The series started with a B retake from Astralis to deny FUT’s pistol round. The former-NAVI junior roster made things deadly with their Desert Eagles, but Astralis maintained their lead as jabbi led the way early. The first gun round could have proven disastrous for the Danes though, as FUT star dziugss nearly pulled off a 1v3, before being denied by HooXi from short.
The pistols remained FUT’s calling card, as a set of Tec9s won them their first round on A, releasing some of the pressure on the team. That round opened an avenue to reset the Astralis economy, but FUT failed to capitalise on it as Astralis looked dominant on the defence. The FUT attack really needed an X-factor at that moment, and coolio was the one to step up. The coach made his way through window to find three Astralis scalps and earn his team their second round.
Individual heroics continued to be the highlight of FUT’s gameplay, but that strategy could only deliver them four rounds in the half. Moving to their own T-side, HooXi not only called a brilliant A-split, but also found two huge kills to ensure the round win himself. The IGL was truly feeling the game battering the CTs round after round. With barely any resistance from the defence, Astralis closed out the map 13-5.
Map 2 – Nuke – FUT nearly push it to a third
A sequence of three Dual Elite headshots from Krabeni wiped away some of the pain of Mirage, as FUT took an early 2-0 lead. But Astralis’ leader wasn’t just calling the shots, he was hitting them too. With just 16hp, HooXi took down cmtry in a 1v1 on B to snatch away the momentum. That should have been two on the trot for Astralis, especially after Staehr just walked to CT spawn for free. But Krabeni simply flew up to heaven and speared Staehr to deny Astralis the round.
Round six started with a mixed-buy for Astralis, with just three rifles in the Ts hands. But jabbi caught Krabeni with his knife out, with HooXi following it up with a solid entry-path into A. With the jabbi-HooXi duo firing on all cylinders, Astralis quickly tied the scoreline back up. But FUT were able to maintain control over the half 7-5.
A second pistol conversion was a huge boost for FUT’s chances on the map, as they quickly extended to a 9-5 lead. HooXi, however, was calling aggressive CT setups for Astralis that allowed them to stifle FUT’s attack before it became a problem. The defence leveled the scoreline at 9-9, before Astralis used their economic advantage to take the lead. FUT remained close, but in the key moments it was Astralis who found the success, closing the map out 13-10.
Series Statistics – FUT vs. Astralis
| Player | Kills | Assists | Deaths | ADR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AST HooXi | 38 | 3 | 24 | 88.6 |
| AST jabbi | 33 | 7 | 26 | 86.5 |
| FUT Krabeni | 33 | 15 | 32 | 88.3 |
| AST phzy | 31 | 5 | 25 | 74.3 |
| AST Staehr | 25 | 11 | 26 | 72.7 |
| AST ryu | 25 | 11 | 22 | 68.4 |
| FUT dziugss | 23 | 7 | 28 | 65.1 |
| FUT coolio | 23 | 8 | 30 | 59.1 |
| FUT cmtry | 23 | 7 | 33 | 55.5 |
| FUT dem0n | 20 | 7 | 29 | 55.5 |
