Astralis is a professional eSports team that plays Counter Strike: Global Offensive. They have been playing at the top level for the past two years. But they have always had a problem when it came to the biggest events. They were infamous for having incredible runs at the beginning of tournaments, but then “choking” in the semi-finals numerous times. Even if every single player was playing their best they ever had, once it came to the semi-finals they could never get the win.  The biggest and most important tournament that there can possibly be is a Valve Major. Before 2017 they played in 8 Majors, winning 0.

How they did in those 8 Majors:

ESL One Katowice 2014: 3rd-4th

ESL One Cologne 2014: 3rd-4th

DreamHack Winter 2014: 5th-8th

ESL One Katowice 2015: 5th-8th

ESL One Cologne 2015: 3rd-4th

Dreamhack Open Cluj-Napoca 2015: 5th-8th

MLG Columbus 2016: 3rd-4th

ESL One Cologne 2016: 5th-8th

So with every single major before 2017 they had gone out in the quarter-finals or semi-finals. But then before the 9th Major for Astralis and the 10th Major ever the organization hired an eSports Psychologist for the team’s “choking” problem. The solution to Astralis’ problem is Mia Stellberg a Finnish psychologist. She worked with each team member from Astralis individually to help them overcome their problem.

Then in the beginning of 2017 Astralis went to Atlanta, Georgia to play in their 9th Major, Eleage. This was the first Major in CS:GO streamed live on television and the first Major with a prize pool of $1,000,000. With the help of Stellberg they were able to make it to the grand finals of a Major for the first time ever, and they ended up winning it all. A story full of firsts: Astralis’ first Major grand final, Astralis’ first Major victory, first televised CS:GO tournament, and  the first Major with a prize pool of $1,000,000.