During the summer off-season, Astralis made significant changes both on and off the server, with the most notable one being the benching of their long-standing and four-time Major winning captain Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander.
End of an era: gla1ve benched on Astralis – Replaced by Staehr and b0RUP
The removal of the in-game leader was part of a major overhaul on Astralis and came after a lacklustre period, where the Danish team have been nowhere near the elite within the game.
Changes were therefore “inevitable”, if you ask Astralis’ superstar AWPer Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz.
– It was natural that things unfolded as they did, I think, because of our fluctuating results. I mean, changes were inevitable. Looking back and seeing where the team is today, I’m glad we’ve come this far, dev1ce has said in an interview on Astralis’ home page.
– Though it resulted in only one week of vacation and having no time for anything other than grinding on the server throughout the summer, I quickly sensed that the ambitions of this project indeed drove everyone from the new roster. There’s a shared feeling: we want to elevate our performance while succeeding as a cohesive unit, the 28-year-old Dane added.
You can read the entire interview right here.
Astralis part ways with Kasper Hvidt and HUNDEN
“gla1ve is not done”
Despite being cut and not being a part of the future Astralis, dev1ve believes gla1ve still has a future in Counter-Strike.
In a fan Q&A made by Astralis, dev1ce describes how it was to say farewell to gla1ve, his childhood friend and long-standing teammate.
– gla1ve is a guy, who I have known since I was 12-13 years old – so of course, it was tough to say goodbye to him. Although, I’m confident that he still has a great future ahead in Counter-Strike, and that I will be seeing him at tournaments, whenever he finds a new team.
Astralis this off-season:
In:
{cflag:DK} Johannes “b0RUP” Borup (Free agent)
{cflag:DK} Victor “Staehr” Staehr (Sprout)
{cflag:DK} Kasper Straube Hansen – Sports Director (Heroic)
Out:
{cflag:DK} Lukas ”gla1ve” Rossander (benched)
{cflag:DK} Andreas ”Xyp9x” Højsleth (benched)
{cflag:DK} Alexander ”Altekz” Givskov (Preasy)
{cflag:DK} Kasper Hvidt – Sports Director
{cflag:DK} Nicolai ”HUNDEN” Petersen – Head Analyst
