What's next, Astralis?
The 2022 season is practically over for Astralis, so where do the Danes go from here?
For the second year in a row, Astralis will most likely end the season without a tournament win. Yesterday the Danes missed out on competing at BLAST Fall Finals at the Royal Arena in front of thousands of their fans. Unfortunately a natural conclusion to another difficult year at Astralis. With almost no tournaments left in 2022 for the Danes, now would be a great time to look at the roster.
With the benching of Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke, the rebuilding phase has already started. The question remains, how many Astralis players will have to leave the current lineup? Let's start out by looking at some numbers.
1. Benjamin "blameF" Bremer - 1.22 rating
2. Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke - 1.07 rating
3. Asger "farlig" Jensen - 0.99 rating
4. Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth - 0.96 rating
5. Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander - 0.96 rating
Subs:
6. Mikkel "MistR" Thomsen - 0.96 rating
7. Philip "Lucky" Ewald - 0.92 rating
Astralis 2019:
1. Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz - 1.22 rating
2. Emil "Magisk" Reif - 1.17 rating
3. Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen - 1.12 rating
4. Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth - 1.12 rating
5. Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander - 1.06 rating
When looking at the numbers from the two different iterations of Astralis, it is pretty clear, that the supporting cast around the star player (blameF/dev1ce) is the biggest difference between the two teams stats-wise. The team rating has dropped from 1.14 in 2019 to 1.04 in 2022. A huge drop. But what we don't see and hear is the communication and how the players are matching up with roles and positions. The Astralis core that won three Majors in a row seemed to be clicking on all levels with the right combination of passive and aggressive players. The perfect combination is so important, which could be seen earlier this year with FaZe's addition of Robin “ropz” Kool to the squad. One player made the difference from a top-tier team to a trophy-winning one.
The big problem for Astralis is, that it is not only one thing, that needs to be fixed... Can blameF and Xyp9x connect on the server, or are they too similar in playstyle and mindset? Can Astralis continue with an AWP'er that delivers below a 1.00 rating? Have they still not recovered from losing zonic as their coach? Are gla1ve's stratbook outdated in the current meta?
The questions are piling up, and indicate several issues that sporting director Kasper Hvidt will have to deal with in the coming weeks.