Astralis vs 100 Thieves Set for Stake Pulse Beat II Semi-final

27.09.2026 - 03:25

Astralis vs 100 Thieves Set for Stake Pulse Beat II Semi-final

Astralis and 100 Thieves will meet in the Stake Pulse Beat II semi-finals after both teams survived the quarter-final stage of the $60,000 CS2 LAN in Stockholm.

Astralis had to recover from a map down against Betclic before completing their 2-1 comeback with a dominant 13-0 finish on Cache. 100 Thieves had a more straightforward route, eliminating BBL 2-0 with identical 13-9 victories on Cache and Mirage.

Beyond the tournament implications, the semi-final carries an additional storyline: Nicolai “device” Reedtz is set to play against Astralis for the first time since leaving the Danish organization for 100 Thieves at the beginning of 2026.

Quick summary

Detail	Information
Match	Astralis vs 100 Thieves
Event	Stake Pulse Beat II
Stage	Semi-final
Game	Counter-Strike 2
Location	Stockholm, Sweden
Format	Best-of-three LAN
Scheduled date	September 26, 2026
Original scheduled time	12:00
Astralis quarter-final	2-1 vs Betclic
100 Thieves quarter-final	2-0 vs BBL
Key storyline	device faces former team Astralis
Prize pool	$60,000
Winner advances to	Grand Final
Confirmation status	Confirmed

Astralis and 100 Thieves secure semi-final meeting

The final four at Stake Pulse Beat II were determined after the September 25 quarter-finals, with Astralis, 100 Thieves, HEROIC and Sangal surviving the bracket.

Astralis had the more difficult route through their quarter-final.

Betclic took Nuke 16-14 after overtime to put Astralis one map away from elimination. Astralis responded on their own Ancient pick, recovering from a 5-7 first half to win 13-8.

Cache then became completely one-sided.

Astralis swept the first half 12-0 and immediately converted the final round required after the side switch, closing the deciding map 13-0 and the series 2-1.

100 Thieves avoided the same pressure.

They defeated BBL 13-9 on Cache and repeated the exact score on Mirage for a 2-0 quarter-final victory. Håvard “rain” Nygaard led 100 Thieves statistically in the series with a 1.33 HLTV Rating 3.0 and 38-26 K-D.

Those results created an Astralis vs 100 Thieves semi-final with a place in the Stake Pulse Beat II Grand Final at stake.

Astralis vs 100 Thieves puts device against his former team

The most significant individual storyline is device.

The Danish AWPer joined 100 Thieves at the beginning of 2026 after another chapter of his long association with Astralis.

According to HLTV, the Stake Pulse Beat II semi-final will be device's first competitive meeting with Astralis since that departure.

That makes this more than an ordinary semi-final matchup.

Astralis is the organization with which device built much of his Counter-Strike legacy, while his move to 100 Thieves created a direct connection between the two lineups now competing for a place in the Stockholm final.

The reunion adds narrative weight, but it does not by itself indicate how the series should unfold. The more useful competitive indicators are the teams' paths through the event, their map choices and their performances immediately before the semi-final.

How Astralis reached the semi-finals

Astralis entered the playoffs undefeated after topping their GSL group.

Their tournament began against Sangal, where they lost Nuke 17-19 after overtime before recovering with 13-7 victories on Ancient and Cache.

Gytis “ryu” Glušauskas was central to that opening comeback, finishing the three-map series with an 80-43 K-D and 1.67 HLTV Rating 3.0.

Astralis then defeated FOKUS to secure a direct route into the playoffs.

Their quarter-final against Betclic followed a similar pattern to the Sangal series: Astralis lost the opener but responded by winning the next two maps.

This time the turnaround ended with the 13-0 Cache shutout.

Astralis road to the semi-final

Stage	Opponent	Result
Group A opening match	Sangal	2-1
Group A winners' match	FOKUS	2-0
Quarter-final	Betclic	2-1
Semi-final	100 Thieves	Next at time of announcement

Astralis therefore entered the semi-final announcement with a 3-0 series record at the tournament.

How 100 Thieves reached the semi-finals

100 Thieves also emerged from the group stage undefeated.

They opened against EAC with a 2-0 victory, taking Mirage 13-8 before surviving a much closer 19-16 overtime battle on Inferno.

Their winners' match against Phantom was less straightforward.

100 Thieves lost Nuke 9-13 but answered by winning Mirage and the deciding map to take the series 2-1 and finish first in Group C.

That sent them directly into the playoffs.

BBL awaited in the quarter-finals, where 100 Thieves produced their cleanest playoff performance yet: 13-9 on Cache and 13-9 on Mirage.

100 Thieves road to the semi-final

Stage	Opponent	Result
Group C opening match	EAC	2-0
Group C winners' match	Phantom	2-1
Quarter-final	BBL	2-0
Semi-final	Astralis	Next at time of announcement

Like Astralis, 100 Thieves reached the final four without losing a series.

Astralis vs 100 Thieves: key details

Category	Astralis	100 Thieves
Group finish	1st in Group A	1st in Group C
Series lost before semi-final	0	0
Quarter-final opponent	Betclic	BBL
Quarter-final result	2-1	2-0
QF opening map	Lost Nuke 14-16	Won Cache 13-9
QF second map	Won Ancient 13-8	Won Mirage 13-9
QF decider	Won Cache 13-0	Not required
Former-team storyline	—	device vs Astralis
Semi-final format	BO3	BO3

Why this semi-final matters

The immediate consequence is obvious: only one of Astralis and 100 Thieves can reach the Stake Pulse Beat II Grand Final.

But the event has importance beyond its $60,000 prize pool.

Stake Pulse Beat II is a Valve-recognized Tier 2 LAN, and its matches award Valve Regional Standings points. The event was specifically positioned as an opportunity for teams seeking ranking progress ahead of the November 2 cutoff connected to the PGL Major Singapore cycle.

That makes playoff progress competitively relevant even though Stake Pulse Beat II is not itself a Major-level event.

The semi-final also guarantees that one of two undefeated group winners will suffer its first series loss of the tournament.

For 100 Thieves, there is the additional device storyline.

For Astralis, the match offers an opportunity to turn two comeback series into a Grand Final appearance.

Tactical and map-pool context

The quarter-finals provide several useful clues, although they do not guarantee how the semi-final veto will develop.

Astralis removed Anubis against Betclic. Betclic removed Inferno, leaving Cache as the decider.

Astralis then produced their strongest map score of the series on Cache, winning 13-0.

100 Thieves' quarter-final veto looked different.

BBL removed Dust2, while 100 Thieves removed Nuke. BBL selected Cache and 100 Thieves picked Mirage, with 100 Thieves winning both maps 13-9.

That creates one particularly interesting overlap: both teams entered the semi-final directly after winning Cache.

Astralis' 13-0 result was substantially more one-sided, while 100 Thieves proved they could win the map after their opponent selected it.

However, projecting the semi-final veto directly from those two series would be speculative. The actual veto and map order remained TBD at the time the matchup was announced.

Tournament impact

A victory moves either Astralis or 100 Thieves into the Grand Final on the same day.

The other side of the bracket features HEROIC against Sangal.

Sangal reached the semi-finals by beating JiJieHao in two maps, with Bartosz “bnox” Niebisz recording a 1.47 series rating according to HLTV's quarter-final report.

The resulting structure is:

Semi-final	Match
SF1	100 Thieves vs Astralis
SF2	HEROIC vs Sangal
Grand Final	SF1 winner vs SF2 winner

The final was scheduled for later on September 26, meaning the tournament champion would need to win both a semi-final and Grand Final during the closing day.

VRS impact

Stake Pulse Beat II carries Global Valve Regional Standings points.

That gives the tournament additional value for organizations trying to improve their position in Valve's ranking ecosystem.

However, the available source does not provide a reliable numerical calculation showing exactly how many VRS positions Astralis or 100 Thieves would gain or lose from a semi-final victory.

For that reason, no projected VRS movement should be presented as fact.

Confirmed: the event awards VRS points.

Exact post-event ranking impact: TBD until an applicable VRS update provides the resulting standings.

Stake Pulse Beat II background

Stake Pulse Beat II is the second tournament in the Stake Pulse series.

The event runs September 21-26 in Stockholm, Sweden, with 16 teams and a $60,000 prize pool. The winner receives $20,000.

The competitive structure begins with four GSL groups.

Every group contains four teams and uses best-of-three matches, with the top two advancing.

That leaves eight teams for a single-elimination playoff bracket.

Astralis and 100 Thieves both won their respective groups, while HEROIC and JiJieHao were the other undefeated group winners.

By the end of the quarter-finals, HEROIC and Sangal occupied the other half of the final-four bracket.

Stake Pulse Beat II timeline

Date	Development
August 12, 2026	Initial 14-team Stake Pulse Beat II field announced
September 21, 2026	Main event begins in Stockholm
September 21	Astralis beat Sangal 2-1
September 23	100 Thieves beat EAC 2-0
September 23	100 Thieves beat Phantom 2-1
September 24	Astralis and 100 Thieves confirmed as undefeated group winners
September 25	100 Thieves beat BBL 2-0
September 25	Astralis beat Betclic 2-1
September 25	Astralis vs 100 Thieves semi-final confirmed
September 26	Semi-finals and Grand Final scheduled

What changes now?

The group stage and quarter-finals no longer matter for qualification: Astralis and 100 Thieves are one best-of-three away from the title match.

Both teams also have a confirmed opponent to prepare for.

Astralis can study a 100 Thieves side that has won three consecutive series at the tournament and dropped only one map.

100 Thieves face an Astralis team that has also won every series but has twice recovered after dropping the opening map.

The matchup therefore brings together two undefeated-by-series teams whose routes to the semi-final have looked somewhat different.

What to watch next

device against Astralis: The former Astralis AWPer's first match against his old organization is the central individual storyline.

The veto: Cache appeared in both quarter-finals and was won by both teams, while 100 Thieves removed Nuke and Astralis removed Anubis in their respective matches.

Astralis after losing map one: Astralis recovered from opening-map defeats against both Sangal and Betclic. Another slow start would put pressure on them in a single-elimination semi-final.

100 Thieves' playoff form: Their 2-0 victory against BBL was cleaner than their three-map group-stage series against Phantom.

Grand Final opponent: The winner will face either HEROIC or Sangal for the championship.

Related teams, players and events

Astralis: Danish organization and one of four undefeated group winners at Stake Pulse Beat II.

100 Thieves: International lineup that topped Group C before eliminating BBL.

device: 100 Thieves AWPer and former Astralis player. His first meeting with Astralis since his 2026 departure provides the main individual storyline.

rain: Led 100 Thieves statistically in their 2-0 quarter-final victory against BBL with a 1.33 HLTV Rating 3.0.

ryu: Produced a 1.67 series rating in Astralis' tournament opener against Sangal.

HEROIC and Sangal: Contest the other semi-final.

Stake Pulse Beat II: 16-team, $60,000 LAN in Stockholm running September 21-26.

FAQ

When is Astralis vs 100 Thieves at Stake Pulse Beat II?

The semi-final was scheduled for September 26, 2026 at 12:00 as the opening series of the tournament's final day.

How did Astralis reach the Stake Pulse Beat II semi-finals?

Astralis topped Group A before beating Betclic 2-1 in the quarter-finals. They lost Nuke 14-16, recovered 13-8 on Ancient and completed the comeback with a 13-0 victory on Cache.

How did 100 Thieves reach the semi-finals?

100 Thieves won Group C after victories against EAC and Phantom. They then eliminated BBL 2-0 in the quarter-finals, winning Cache and Mirage by identical 13-9 scores.

Why is device vs Astralis significant?

HLTV reports that this will be device's first match against Astralis since leaving the organization for 100 Thieves at the beginning of 2026.

Does Stake Pulse Beat II award VRS points?

Yes. Stake describes Pulse as a Valve-recognized Tier 2 competition in which matches award Global Valve Regional Standings points. The exact ranking change resulting from this specific semi-final was not established in the available source data.