Can Astralis return to Major-winning form before Stockholm?
The CS:GO scene was sent into a whirlwind of shock when the news broke that their longtime main AWPer was moving to Ninjas in Pyjamas.
It’s no secret that Astralis have had a major dip in performances in 2021, stretching back into last year too. But can they return to Major-winning form without Nicolai “device” Reedtz before the big Major event in Stockholm, or is their era of dominance truly over for good?
On the 23rd of April, Ninjas in Pyjamas announced the shock signing of device on a permanent transfer from Astralis, which left the CS:GO world speechless. The 25-year-old Dane was one of the original core members of the Danish squad that was created back in January 2016 and have played a massive role as the team ushered in a new era of true dominance between 2018 and 2020. During his time with Astralis, device and company cemented their place in the CS:GO hall of fame as they managed to win countless international titles, including three back-to-back Major crowns to add to the ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2017 trophy.
“Leaving Astralis is tough, to say the least,” device said in a press release. “The boys will always be like family to me, but this COVID pandemic has left me thinking a lot; where do I see myself when it all goes back to normal? I’ve lived in Sweden for some time now, speaking the language and I’m really hyped about this young and exciting NiP project. To join one of the most successful organizations, where so many legends have played inspires me.”
In the current AWP-oriented meta, it is crucial to have a consistent AWPer who can hold bombsites almost by himself and open up space for his teammates on the offense. So, people quickly started to wonder; Where do Astralis go from here?
Well, the Danish organization have not yet decided to bring in another world-class AWPer who can fill the shoes of “Mr. Consistent”. And even if they did, there’s still a myriad of issues left for them to resolve. Instead of picking up another AWPer, Astralis chose Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen to fill the gap for now, taking over the entry role and Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen taking over AWPing duties.
Astralis’ debut without Mr. Consistent
Astralis made their debut without device at the DreamHack Masters Spring 2021 where they finished the event on a 5-6th place after being eliminated by G2 in the Quarter-final. All of the eyes were on the Danish squad who faced their biggest test ever with the haters looking for any signs of problems.
Despite being eliminated from the tournament, things didn’t turn out as awful as many expected. Astralis picked up victories against Extra Salt and Complexity before falling short to Heroic and G2 in the single elimination bracket. The Danish squad clearly tried out new things with Bubzkji shifting into a more aggressive role to utilize his skillset in a better way. So, it’s hard to say whether it will work out for Astralis without a world-class AWPer yet, and it’s even more unthinkable that they can solve some of their problems in a such short amount of time. But, it’s fair to say that more of the key members really need to step up when looking at some of their individual stats from the event.
Player stats for Astralis at DreamHack Masters Spring 2021:
Magisk: 8 Maps | +14 K-D Diff | 1.10 K/D | 1.12 Rating
Bubzkji: 8 Maps | +7 K-D Diff | 1.05 K/D | 1.08 Rating
Xyp9x: 8 Maps | -12 K-D Diff | 0.92 K/D | 0.97 Rating
dupreeh: 8 Maps | -6 K-D Diff | 0.96 K/D | 0.95 Rating
gla1ve: 8 Maps | -29 K-D Diff | 0.80 K/D | 0.91 Rating
Watch Astralis’ debut without device:
What’s next for Astralis?
With dupreeh now being in charge of the AWPing duties and gla1ve formulating new strategies, it will be exciting to see if Astralis manage to bounce back from the massive roster change. But as said before, they’re still in the rebuilding process, trying to retain the team’s core pieces and it might take some time before we get answers to all the questions.
It also may be a long time before we even see the Danish squad back at the top, no one really knows yet.
Yes, the mighty Danes have bounced back from difficult situations in the past, but this might end up being too big a challenge, even for them to overcome.
Lucas “Bubzkji” Andersen’s time to shine
In these challenging times for Astralis, Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander needs to reinvent his team and prove that him and coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen can find success with a different formula which can help Bubzkji to regain some confidence and become a key player after the difficult period following his arrival to the team. But is that even going to be enough? And if not, how long will it take before he will be put on the sidelines again?
Enjoy some Astralis highlights from their recent matches without device:
