phzy: “When we’re all playing at our absolute best, we have a very high ceiling.”
Astralis sniper Lav “phzy” Smidebrandt, in an interview at the Esports World Cup 2026, assessed the team’s match against MIBR, their current position in the VRS rankings, and discussed the roster’s strengths and weaknesses.
On the victory over MIBR
On the attack side, things were very shaky. I think it was a very close game, but when we switched to our defense side, we were able to pull away quite significantly. Yes, at least at first, it all felt much closer.
On Astralis’ 17th-place ranking in the VRS
Considering our results, I think it’s fair, but it seems to me that we’re playing at a higher level than this ranking suggests. And I think we showed that yesterday as well. But I feel like the VRS ranking will always be a bit inaccurate. I think at some point last season we were in the world’s top 3, and back then we said the same thing, you know. We weren’t actually in the world’s top 3, and I think it’s the same now.
On the tournament favorites
Probably Team Falcons. But I think Team Vitality is also among the favorites. At the very least, it should be one of those two teams.
On Astralis’ strengths and weaknesses
Good question. I think anyone on our team can step up—all five players. Even HooXi sometimes has really good matches, you know. So yeah, I think when we’re all playing at our absolute best, we have a very high ceiling. But our weakness is also that sometimes our floor is perhaps too low.
Earlier, Astralis lost to Team Falcons 0–2 in Group B at the 2026 Esports World Cup for Counter-Strike 2. On Sunday, Lava “phzy” Smidebrandt’s team will face the winner of the BetBoom Team vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas match for the right to remain in the tournament.
Photo by Sebastian Pandelache, PGL.
