A lot has happened since Astralis played their last match at ESL Pro League. Back in Season 16, both Kristian 'k0nfig' Wienecke and Asger 'Farlig' Jensen were still on the team that crashed out of the group stage of the event.

What followed next was even more shocking. The four-time Major winning Organization missed out on qualifying for IEM Rio after nearly also failing to qualify for the RMRs in the first place. This an unusual position to be in for the experienced in-game leader Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander, who does not hide the fact, that it was a difficult time.

- That was probably the worst I've ever felt when it comes to feeling pressure, but there is always some pressure when you're in Astralis. It's about how you handle it as a team and as a group, and I feel we're in a much better place today both mentally, quality-wise, and in-game. I'm not saying we'll win it all hands down, but I actually feel good about the team and the upcoming tournaments. We still have a lot to work on, but we're getting there.

“We don’t feel sorry for ourselves”

The 2023 version of Astralis does look like a solid improvement to last year’s lineup. The addition of Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz hardly needs any further comments, but perhaps more surprising is the performance of Christian Møss "Buzz" Andersen, who has looked very solid on Astralis’ two favorite maps of Ancient and Nuke. In combination with a new coaching staff setup, which gla1ve already has praised highly, there is a sense of optimism to detect in the answer given by gla1ve about the balance of the team in terms of roles and positions.

- Peter (casle), Nicolai (Hunden), and everybody on the team are working damned hard to improve as players and as a group. We have found a feeling of togetherness, and we're certainly in a much better place than we were in most of 2022. It feels really good in practice, and I hope we will see the same level in officials. You still have that small doubt, but that only proves how much we want it. We are where we are, we don't feel sorry for ourselves, and we're ready to take some territory back.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"gla1ve-hunden-casle-ive-never-had-such-competent-coaching-analyst-team-behind","isNewTab":true}]

For Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander ESL Pro League and the upcoming European RMR will give some answers on the doubts that he and the rest of the CS community have on the 2023 version of Astralis.

On a personal level, Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander became a father in 2021 and has since then had to juggle his time between being a parent and leading Astralis back to the top of CS. Two full-time jobs to say the least. But according to recent studies, there are also physical changes happening to a father. In an [link:{"url":"https://www.healthline.com/health-news/what-is-dad-brain-and-why-do-first-time-fathers-experience-it#Details-from-the-study","isNewTab":true,"text":"American study"}], researchers identified that the most significant changes in the expectant fathers occurred in the cortex — the brain’s outer layer managing attention, planning, and executive functioning. Three key components for an in-game leader!

And maybe this has been contributing to the progress, that the four-time Major winner has felt lately. Or not.

- Ha ha. I heard that a "dad brain" should improve the ability to process things visually, and I do feel that I'm improving as a player and an in-game leader, but honestly, I'll give most of the credit to the way we work on the team and in the new set-up with the people involved. It feels like we improve and learns every day, and that's a great feeling.

Wednesday at 16.00 CET we will see, if the vibes continues to be positive, when Astralis face Team Spirit in their opening game at ESL Pro League Season 17.

gla1ve

Astralis

Astralis managed to take down OG at BLAST Premier Spring Groups and secured themselves a sport at the BLAST Spring Finals. Despite a tough start to the tournament Gla1ve and co. are moving on to the finals after an intense match against a well-played OG team.

Qualifying for the Spring Finals means a lot to Astralis due to their poor results during the 2022 season. The team has not found its footing since the team disbanded back in 2019. Now their team is set and ready to build a strong bond going forward, with high hope and confidence moving on to the next tournament in the 2023 season. 

Astralis´s next challenge starts on Feb 22nd when ESL Pro League Season 17 kicks off in Malta. 

Over the last three months, the Danes from Astralis has experienced a major overhaul in their entire setup – both on and off the server.

Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz and Christian “Buzz” Andersen has been brought in to strengthen the roster, Peter “casle” Ardenskjold has been appointed as the head coach, where lastly the much-debated figure of Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen has been revealed as their new head analyst.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"official-astralis-sign-19-year-old-rifler","isNewTab":true}]

One individual who is excited about the new format is the in-game leader Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander, especially praising the coaching setup. 

- HUNDEN and casle are a sharp duo, I personally have never had such a competent trainer/analyst team behind me, so I'm certainly not complaining, gla1ve said in an interview with Astralis.

That’s some big words coming from gla1ve taking in mind that he’s been coached by the most accoladed coach in CS:GO history Danny “zonic” Sørensen for more than five years. A partnership that racked up four Major titles together and achieved to establish the most dominant era ever seen.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"astralis-sign-hunden","isNewTab":true}]

Furthermore, Astralis has announced the addition of two new faces to their performance team in B. S. Christiansen and Jan Ø. Jørgensen. Something he also touched in the interview via Astralis’ [link:{"url":"https://twitter.com/AstralisCS/status/1613154008419500032","isNewTab":true,"text":"newsletter"}].

- I think it's been great so far. Jan and BS complement each other really well. It is clear that BS is well-versed, calm and has a lot of tools, where Jan has a little more energy and different ideas. It works well. Both are guys who know their stuff and who you look up to.

Here is the entire setup for Astralis going forward: 

{cflag:DK} Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth 

{cflag:DK} Peter "casle" Toftbo Ardenskjold (Coach)

{cflag:DK} Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen (Head analyst) 

{cflag:DK} B. S. Christiansen (Mental coach)

{cflag:DK} Jan Ø. Jørgensen (Performance coach)

The legendary Astralis era is back with a friendly wingman match. As the most successful team to ever grace our game of Counter-Strike, Astralis was laid to rest in 2021. The Astralis team from 2018 to 2020 will go down as the best team in the history of the game. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"top-15-teams-with-most-prize-won-cs-go-history","isNewTab":true}]

Dupreeh & Xyp9x take on gla1ve & Magisk in a fight where what to buy is decided at random at the start of every round. Which mix team will win the reunion of the Astralis legendary roster? 

Check out this iconic wingman match on Cobblestone:

Magisk

dupreeh

Xyp9x

Team Vitality

That’s one of the things Astralis’ captain had to say when he was asked to give some comments on Nicolai “device” Reedtz’ return to the Danish camp in a video on Astralis’ TikTok.

“We’ve played with him in pracc for some time. We wanted to see if he was still good and he has been playing really well. We wanted him to play (at the Elisa Masters event), but I think he’s also holding a little bit back because he has been out for 9 months. You need a slow start, especially with all the traveling we do.”

Even though gla1ve already wanted to see their AWPer in action at the Elisa Masters in Finland, he isn’t disappointed with device’s choice to miss out on the event and thinks it’s the right thing to do in his situation right now.

“He has also been out on sick leave so I think it’s the right thing to do. Take it slow, one step at a time. First, you’re joining a few pracc’s and when you've gotten used to that, you join the traveling so you don’t just go from 0-100 right away. I think it’s the right choice.”

device

Professional Counter-Strike is an industry where you often see players jump between multiple teams and organizations during their career - counting up to more than ten different teams in some cases.

But that's not the case for every CS:GO player. 

In this article, we highlight the most loyal players in the game. Players who have stayed with one organization despite big letdowns, disappointing results, and lucrative offers from other teams. Topping the list with quite a margin, we have Liquid's Jonathan "EliGE" Jablonowski who has represented the North American squad through thick and thin for over seven years. 

You can find the complete list down below. 

Top 10 players | Longest tenure with a single team

*The list only includes active players inside Top 30 (17/11)

1. {cflag:US} EliGE (Liquid) 22/3 2015 – 7 years, 7 months, 26 days

2. {cflag:DK} Xyp9x (Astralis) 18/1 2016 - 6 years, 9 months, 30 days

3. {cflag:NO} rain (FaZe) 20/1 2016 - 6 years, 9 months, 28 days

4. {cflag:UA} s1mple (NAVI) 4/8 2016 - 6 years, 3 months, 13 days

5. {cflag:SE} KRIMZ (fnatic) 24/10 2016 - 6 years, 0 months 24 days

5. {cflag:DK} gla1ve (Astralis) 24/10 2016 - 6 years, 0 months 24 days

7. {cflag:US} Brehze (NRG/Evil Geniuses) 19/12 2016 - 5 years, 10 months, 29 days

8. {cflag:DE} tabseN (BIG) 2/1 2017 - 5 years, 10 months, 15 days

9. {cflag:SE} REZ (Ninjas in Pyjamas) 12/6 2017 - 5 years, 5 months, 5 days

10. {cflag:ES} mopoz (Movistar Riders) 24/7 2017 - 5 years, 3 months, 24 days

[slugORMA:{"slug":"its-last-opportunity-kennys-returning-competitive-cs-go","isNewTab":true}]

EliGE

mopoz

tabseN

s1mple

Brehze

KRIMZ

rain

Elisa Masters Espoo 2022 will kick off this Wednesday with profiled teams such as Fnatic, ENCE, BIG and Complexity having travelled all the way to Finland for the $200.000 LAN tournament.

Another squad that will feature in the event is Astralis, who arrive with a roster consisting of the youngsters in Mikkel “MistR” Thomsen and Kristoffer “Kristou” Aamand. This will be Astralis’ last chance to take home a title in 2022, following a strugglesome year for the Danish titans.

The CS:GO action in Finland is set to begin at 10:00 (CET) this Wednesday. You can find the entire schedule [link:{"url":"https://www.hltv.org/events/6621/matches","isNewTab":true,"text":"here"}].

We are now less than one week away from the start of the much-awaited IEM Rio Major in Brazil. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all 17 Majors. Today we have reached IEM Katowice Major 2019.

Astralis (Xyp9x – device – dupreeh – Magisk - gla1ve)

 Cache, Dust2, Inferno, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, Train.

The IEM Katowice 2019 was a much-awaited Major tournament among the CS:GO community. 24 teams, and thousands of fans from all over the world, assembled in Katowice, Poland to witness an even full of emotions and magic. It was the 14th Major Championship in CS:GO history and the third to be played in Katowice.

Astralis were the clear favorites going into the tournament. The Danes had already cemented themselves as a strong team that was very difficult to beat, having won the previous Major in dominating fashion. However, winning the trophy and the majority of the prize pool wouldn’t come that easy. Their rivals in this new era of Counter-Strike, Team Liquid, among other strong teams, were not willing to go down without a war.

Many fans expected the Grand final to be between Astralis and Liquid due to the level that both teams showed at previous events. But things didn’t turn out as expected.

At the IEM Katowice 2019 Major event in Katowice, the Finnish team from ENCE showed the world what they were made of through unbelievable performances. This is their journey from the European Minor all the way to the Grand finals.

Back in October 2018, ENCE came out on top with title victories at StarSeries and i-League Season 6, taking down the juggernauts on their way across the finish line. The Finnish team slowly started to make themselves a name within the CS:GO scene and gave fans the feeling that they were capable of much more.

Flashforward three months in arguably the toughest Minor pool and ENCE were able to surface at the top, securing their ticket to Poland for the Challengers Stage in Katowice. After dominating teams with stellar performances, ENCE advanced into a more heated arena in the Legends stage, where they faced serious complications as they were on the brink of elimination after falling into the 0-2 bracket. But ENCE didn’t let themselves affect of their losses and went on to conquer the likes of BIG, G2, and AVANGAR in a sequence of bo3 to advance into the Top 8.

While the playoffs backet spelled a Astralis vs. Team Liquid Grand final initially, ENCE weren’t done carving out their mark at this tournament just yet.

In the quarter-finals of the tournament, ENCE surprisingly proved to be the better team despite having players competing professionally for the first time. They made an unreal comeback against the North-American side from Team Liquid to eliminate them with a 2-0 victory. The Finns then went ahead to play against NAVI in the semi-finals, whom they also took down in stunning fashion to reach the finals. ENCE beating NAVI in the semi-finals conceded the feeling that this team deserved it, and they did.

The Danes lived up to the status of being the favorites. Starting with the New Legends Stage, gla1ve and company were never really in trouble. After making short work of Complexity and Clodu9, only Renegades were able to win a map against the Danes, after winning Mirage in overtime. Once Astralis got onto their strongest maps, Inferno and Nuke, it turned into yet another comfortable victory for them. The playoffs were not that dangerous for Astralis either. Ninjas in Pyjamas and the Brazilians from MIBR made it close on Overpass and Dust2 respectively, but on the other maps, Astralis dominated.

After taking out the Finns from ENCE in the final with another 2-0 result, Astralis had managed to go through yet another Major playoff without dropping a single map. Their teamplay, utility usage, and ability to play comfortably on all of the maps shined through once again, but even their individual players were at the top of their game. Many could easily have made an argument for either Xyp9x or device taking the MVP award instead of Magisk, and it just shows how dominant the Danes were throughout the tournament. With their victory in Katowice, the Danes cemented their status as the greatest team in CS:GO history without a doubt, and they didn’t plan to slow down anytime soon.

Highest rated players at IEM Katowice 2019 Major

1. {cflag:DK} Nicolai “device” Reedtz (Astralis) – 1.32 Rating 

2. {cflag:UA} Aleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev (NAVI) – 1.29 Rating 

3. {cflag:DK} Andreas ”Xyp9x” Højsleth (Astralis) – 1.29 Rating 

4. {cflag:DK} Emil ”Magisk” Reif (Astralis) – 1.28 Rating 

5. {cflag:BR} Marcelo “coldzera” David (MIBR) – 1.26 Rating 

6. {cflag:DK} Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen (Astralis) – 1.24 Rating 

7. {cflag:CA} Peter “stanislaw” Jarguz (Complexity) – 1.20 Rating 

8. {cflag:BR} Fernando “fer” Alvarenga (MIBR) – 1.20 Rating 

9. {cflag:RU} Egor “flamie” Vasilyev (NAVI) – 1.20 Rating 

10. {cflag:US} Vincent ”Brehze” Cayonte (NRG) – 1.19 Rating

Tomorrow we take a look at the StarLadder Berlin Major 2019.

ENCE

We are now only one week away from the start of the much-awaited IEM Rio Major in Brazil. To ease the waiting time, we have created a countdown series, where we dive into the history of all 17 Majors. Today we have reached ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"countdown-major-7-days-go-from-irrelevancy-world-champions","isNewTab":false}]

 Astralis (Kjaerbye, Xyp9x, dupreeh, gla1ve, device)

 Cache, Cobblestone, Dust2, Mirage, Nuke, Overpass, Train.

ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017 was the tenth CS:GO Major tournament in the history of the game and was held from January 22 – January 29, 2017 in the G-FUEL ELEAGUE Arena in Atlanta USA. Like the two previous Majors, this one also featured a total prize pool of $1,000,000 with 16 teams competing for the lions share.

The ELEAGUE Major in Atlanta was arguably one of the best tournaments for Astralis. The Danish powerhouse managed to beat everyone who had stopped them in the past during Major playoffs. In the quarter-finals they took down NAVI to advance to the semi-finals where they came out on top against fnatic and secured a spot in the Grand final. The Grand final was played against the Polish squad from Virtus.pro who had only lost one map in the tournament, and the match turned out to be a really dramatic one.

More than 1.2 million viewers tuned in to watch the ELEAGUE Major 2017 Grand final from Atlanta, setting a new record for CS:GO audiences as the Danes defeated the legendary squad from Virtus.pro to make CS:GO history. This is how it all went down.

Placed 4th on the world rankings at the time and going into the Major as favorites as their form was at the highest level since 2014, the Danes from Astralis had the pressure on them going into the ELEAGUE Major 2017. With the help form their newly acquired sports psychologist, their stars in Kjaerbye and device hitting new levels, a new tactical approach from gla1ve, and the clutch-king of Xyp9x also reaching new levels of winning 1vsX situations, Astralis were able to go all the way to the grand final, where they would take upon the Polish squad from Virtus.pro, who were looking for their second Major championship and first significant victory in some time.

The action of the Grand final started on VP’s pick of Nuke, where the Polish squad was able to end the first half with a 9-6 advantage, thanks in part to the efforts of Snax who stepped up huge and held off the retake of B site in a 1v3 situation. Astralis gained momentum in the second half after they won the pistol round, but ultimately fell as pashaBiceps and company went on to close the map 12-16.

Virtus.pro secured an almost unwinnable 2v3 in the first pistol round on Overpass, defusing the bomb in the last possible moment. However, Astralis replied with a forcebuy victory thanks to dupreeh’s quad kill that helped the Danes take the early lead on their map pick. The Polish squad struggled to deal with Astralis’ slow, execute based tactics, which resulted in the Danes finishing their T side with a 9-6 lead. After some back-and-forth action in the second half, Virtus.pro caught up, taking the lead for the first time in the map with a 14-13 scoreline, and were on the brink of closing it out. But Astralis’ Kjaerbye stepped up huge and won a 1v1 situation against Snax to keep his team in the game and allow them to close out Overpass 16-14 to force the third map, Train.

On the decider of Train, Virtus.pro started off strong and quickly strung together seven consecutive rounds in a row, capitalizing on Astralis’ low economy. After that, Astralis managed to save an AWP and avoid being reset, starting to mount their comeback.

Virtus.pro switched to the defense with a 9-6 advantage, and even extended their lead to hit twelve rounds on the scoreboard before the Danes climbed their way back into the game. Astralis fought their heart out and lowered their deficit to only one round, but things started to look very tough for Astralis when VP secured the following round (12-14). However, the Danes didn’t get affected by looking at the scoreboard and despite Astralis’ anti-eco mishap in the ensuing round, gla1ve and company recovered and closed out the final map 16-14 to get the job done.

The Major Grand final delivered a five-hour long battle full of quality.

The previous Major, before the ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017 made the Danes reconsider their leadership structure. And most importantly, they were positively surprised by their substitute from Cologne, Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander who helped out the team. Astralis ended up replacing Finn “karrigan” Andersen, who went on to join FaZe Clain and signed gla1ve instead.

This was the final push the Danish squad needed to become a world-class team in CS:GO and win their first Major together. Their success continued on, but the Danes weren’t able to win the second Major of the year.

It was obvious that it was due to Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye not fitting in. After being crowned as the Major MVP, the pressure got to him and he didn’t feel comfortable in the team anymore. At the beginning of 2018, Kjaerbye left Astralis on short notice and joined their rivals from North.

Kjaerbye was never able to climb back to the very pinnacle of Counter-Strike after leaving Astralis, while his former teammates went on an era-defining run.

The Dane announced his retirement at the age of 23 on June 30th, 2021, bringing to a close his 7 years as a top player.

Highest rated players at ELEAGUE Major 2017

1. {cflag:RU} Egor “flamie” Vasilyev (NAVI) – 1.36 Rating 

2. {cflag:KZ} Dauren ”AdreN” Kystaubayev (Gambit) – 1.34 Rating 

3. {cflag:US} Jonathan ”EliGE” Jablonowski (Liquid) – 1.30 Rating 

4. {cflag:DK} Nicolai “device” Reedtz (Astralis) – 1.29 Rating 

5. {cflag:PL} Janusz “Snax” Pogorzelski (Virtus.pro) – 1.28 Rating 

6. {cflag:BR} Marcelo “coldzera” David (SK Gaming) – 1.28 Rating 

7. {cflag:SE} Jonas “Lekr0” Olofsson (GODSENT) – 1.26 Rating 

8. {cflag:DK} Emil “Magisk” Reif (North) – 1.24 Rating 

9. {cflag:FR} Kenny “kennyS” Schrub (Envy) – 1.22 Rating 

10. {cflag:DK} Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjærbye (Astralis) – 1.21 Rating

Astralis secured their first Major, but the story of the Danes is far from over yet. Stay tuned for our upcoming articles of this series to find out how Astralis cemented themselves as the best team in the world.

Tomorrow we take a look at the PGL Major Kraków 2017.

Kjaerbye

Astralis have been a part and competed at every single Major championship since its birth back in 2016, winning four titles on their way. However, that streak might end sooner rather than later with the Danes currently fighting an uphill battle in the attempt to secure a ticket for the upcoming Rio Major.

But if you ask Janko "YNk" Paunović, CS:GO analyst and expert, he believes missing out on the Major would actually be the best possible outcome for Astralis.

- I think the best thing that could happen to Astralis is not making it to the Major. Then you just blow up the roster. You keep blameF, you keep gla1ve, and then you get device and potentially staehr and zyphon from Sprout. There’s a roster for you, YNk said on the desk before Astralis’ match against Eternal Fire.

[image:{"source":"cloudinary","publicId":"teams/ninjas in pyjamas /Device_NIP_ov3y5q","originalWidth":2048,"originalHeight":1152,"customWidth":"100%","customHeight":"100%","cloudinaryAssetData":true,"cloudName":"pley-gg","format":"jpg","caption":"Credit: Ninjas in Pyjamas","alt":"device, dev1ce, CSGO, NIP, Denmark, Ninja in Pyjamas"}]

device is rumoured to join Astralis with the transfer price having been agreed reportedly

YNk clearly doesn’t believe in the current Astralis lineup, saying the problems already started right after they signed Benjamin “blameF” Bremer and Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke in a blockbuster transfer in November last year.

Following that Asger “farlig” Jensen also arrived replacing Phillip “Lucky” Ewald on the AWP.

- There have been issues with this roster ever since they added k0nfig and blameF, with the role overlap with gla1ve, which we have talked about time after time, YNk stated on the desk. I think it would be a great sort of excuse for them to start fresh - give the players some rest, to reset mentally. It has been a very draining process with someone like gla1ve and xyp9x who have won four Majors and been a part of the best team in the world for a couple of years. Now they can’t even make the Major.

You can watch the entire desk segment about Astralis in the video below. 

Astralis began their European RMR campaign at IEM Road to Rio yesterday, where they are hoping to secure a prestigious ticket to the Rio Major later this month. The Danes are currently on a 1-1 record after beating Eternal Fire today and losing to Ninjas in Pyjamas on Tuesday. They will play their next matchup tomorrow.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"media-astralis-resign-device","isNewTab":true}]

[slugORMA:{"slug":"k0nfig-heading-astralis-was-reportedly-involved-fist-fight-malta","isNewTab":true}]

Zyphon

Staehr

blameF

Farlig

Lucky

k0nfig

The fight for the prestigious tickets for IEM Rio Major is set to begin this Tuesday with the commencement of IEM Road to Rio, being the last qualifier before the main event later this month. We will kick of with the European RMR tournament, and more specifically Group A.

If you want an overview of the teams and see our predictions, then take a look at our preview of the first group in the article below.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"who-will-make-rio-from-group-a","isNewTab":true}]

The opening round is set to feature no more than eight Bo1 matchups in a Swiss Group format. Here is today’s schedule.

11.00: Bad News Eagles - Eternal Fire | 16-14

You can watch all the action on the following two streams.

With the conclusion of Group A and B at ESL Pro League Season 16, it's time for the prestigious event to initiate the third group, which is starred by the Danish super teams in Astralis and Heroic joined by ENCE, HEET, Complexity and MOUZ. Group C will run over the next five days displaying a thrilling round-robin Bo3 format that will end up finding three playoff teams. 

You can find today's schedule and official match stream down below:

The legendary Danish Organization Astralis is under pressure. To say the least. Tonight the Danes will play in the last online qualifier for the upcoming RMR tournament, where tickets for the Rio Major are at stake after having crashed out in the first three attempts.

The matches tonight will be played after Astralis lost 2-0 to OG at BLAST Fall Groups, where a spot in the BLAST Fall Finals was up for grabs. A situation that makes the day even more intense for Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander and the rest of Astralis, who did not have time to speak with Pley.gg after the match.

But in an interview with [link:{"url":"https://sport.tv2.dk/e-sport/2022-08-27-historisk-astralis-nedtur-truer-jeg-har-aldrig-vaeret-mere-presset","isNewTab":true,"text":"Danish TV2"}], the in-game leader put some words about the pressure, that is on the team tonight.

The Astralis captain also talked about what he expects from his team later tonight.

Astralis will play the Polish roster los kogutos at 18.00 (CEST) and will need to win that match and two more tonight to be sure of qualification. Tomorrow at BLAST the team will play FaZe for a spot at BLAST Fall Finals.

You can follow Astralis' matches tonight here.

Astralis made it out of the Play-in stage at IEM Cologne with an excellent 2-1 victory against the hometown heroes from BIG.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"astralis-qualify-iem-cologne-main-stage-over-hometown-favorites-big","isNewTab":true}]

During the first of Nuke, Astralis in-game leader Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander had a bit of a nightmare in the first half going 0-0-14 on the scoreboard before finally making an impact in the match with his game-defining 1vs3 clutch in round 15.

The Astralis in-game leader could see his two teammates Asger "farlig" Jensen and Kristian "k0nfig" Wienecke perform at a good level against BIG, while also Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth has shown signs of improvements lately. Speaking of his own individual level, the four-time Major winner explains how he is taking a more aggressive role on the team, which can be tough on his personal stats.

You can see the full interview with gla1ve in the video below.

Astralis will face FURIA in the opening round of IEM Cologne.

Many maps present the players and teams with unique opportunities and possibilities, however, some are just more difficult to handle than others. The map of Dust 2 has been discussed plenty of times due to its design. Whilst being, arguably, the most iconic map in CS:GO it has some distinct features that many have argued as flaws. One of these is the inability to retake the B-bombsite after having lost it as CT's. Whilst it isn't impossible it is very difficult and many teams instead opt for the option of saving their guns. 

[slugORMA:{"slug":"dust-2-frustrating-broken-iconic-1","isNewTab":true}]

The Danish mastermind of "gla1ve" is more than aware of the difficulties of retaking the B-bombsite. In a Youtube video posted on Astralis' own channel, he gives insight into some of the ways in which he would retake the bombsite or even stop a B-rush before it gets out of hand. Take a look as the legendary "gla1ve" gives a masterclass in how to stop a B-rush: 

At Roobet Cup 2022 Astralis and Movistar Riders had to wait until today to finish the match that started yesterday. Server issues postponed the match on the first map of Mirage, where Astralis were 7-6 ahead.

The two teams picked off where they left, with Benjamin 'blameF' Bremer continuing his one man army mission for the Danes. blameF crushed the Spaniards ending Mirage with a 33-14 K-D scoreline, which was enough for Astralis to win Movistar Riders’ map pick.

Overpass was next up, which also gave way to Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander returning to the lineup. The in-game leader had been ill yesterday and had been replaced by Frederik "Fessor" Sørensen on the first map. After a fairly even first half, it was Astralis on their CT-side that closed off the match with a stellar defense.

The Danes will take on Cloud9 in the next match, while Movistar Riders need a win against Complexity to stay alive.

Astralis - Movistar Riders 2-0 | Roobet Cup 2022

Fessor

Movistar Riders

Astralis will face off the winner of the Consolidation final on Saturday at 20:00 in the Grand final to fight for the prize pool of $250,000. BIG now move on to the Consolidation final, where they will be facing Heroic on Saturday at 14:30

The series started on the map of Astralis on Ancient, where BIG started strong, converting their pistol round win into a 6-0 lead. It took some time before the Danish offense found their footing on their map pick, but eventually, they managed to string seven rounds on the bounce to take the lead. The first half ended 8-7 in favor of the Astralis. In the second half, the Danish side won every remaining round, ending up 16-7, and won the first map of the series.

Astralis couldn't carry their momentum into their CT side of Dust 2, as the German's core took the opening pistol and an early 7-0 lead. A late resurgence from Astralis allowed them to limit their deficit to just 10-5 going into halftime, but BIG was still sitting on the driver's seat. Once Astralis got comfortable, they won eight rounds in a row on the T side and did not take their foot off the gas pedal, securing the series with a 16-13 victory.

BIG – Astralis 0-2 | Pinnacle Cup Championships

7-16 (Ancient) | {cflag:DK} gla1ve – 1.66 Rating / 23-10 K-D / 108.4 ADR

13-16 (Dust 2) | {cflag:DK} blameF – 1.40 Rating / 25-14 K-D / 86.0ADR

MVP: {cflag:DK} Benjamin "blameF" Bremer – 1.44 Rating / 46-28 K-D / 93.4 ADR

The playoffs at Pinnacle Cup Championships have been set after a long day of Counter-Strike yesterday, where we saw Astralis, BIG, Heroic and Finest end on top in the two groups. You can see the entire schedule for today down below, which also features matches from Global Esports Tour Dubai 2022 and REPUBLEAGUE Season 3.

It’s fair to say that the Danes from Astralis are miles away from their glory days back in 2018-2019. In fact, it’s more than 500 days since their last title at IEM Global Challenge dating back to December 2020. This year hasn’t been very satisfactory either for Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and company.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"astralis-knocked-from-iem-dallas","isNewTab":true}]

After being handed an early exit at IEM Dallas by G2 last night, gla1ve took his time to speak with James Banks to touch on their poor form lately.

You can watch the entire interview with gla1ve in the video below.

[slugORMA:{"slug":"whats-with-xyp9x-astralis","isNewTab":true}]

[slugORMA:{"slug":"astralis-signs-new-awper-lucky-benched","isNewTab":true}]

G2 Esports

When Astralis decided to acquire Asger “Farlig” Jensen in February this year it was because they were in need of a potent primary AWPer after a mediocre period with Phiilip “Lucky” Ewald. However, it seems like Farlig hasn’t fully convinced his new captain yet.

Because at the newly-concluded Major when things were heating up and Astralis were fighting for elimination against Liquid, Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander took the big green away from Farlig and decided to AWP himself. You can watch the close ending of the match, where gla1ve decides to grab the AWP down below.

[link:{"url":"https://www.dust2.dk/nyheder/28944/kasper-hvidt-om-majoren-der-skete-noget-mentalt","isNewTab":true,"text":"In an interview with Dust2.dk"}], Astralis’ Sports Director, Kasper Hvidt has touched on the matter where he was asked whether it was a mistake from gla1ve to demote Farlig.

- Yes, that I'm sure of. Also, if you ask gla1ve. But there are not that many seconds to think, and it is quite clear that if we had played Liquid in other circumstances, we would also have beaten them relatively comfortably. It was the pressure that made the outcome. (…) You can probably also relate to a situation where someone is feeling that now it’s me who has to settle this, and then you do it. If you have asked him again if he should have done it, he would never have done it, Hvidt said to Dust2.dk.

You can read the full interview with Kasper Hvidt down below (in Danish):

[slugORMA:{"slug":"astralis-eliminated-liquid-end-top-vital-knockout-match","isNewTab":true}]

gla1ve

Player stats

Articles mentioning gla1ve

gla1ve: We're ready to take some territory back

gla1ve: This win means so much for the team

gla1ve on HUNDEN and casle: I’ve never had such a competent coaching/analyst team behind me

Video: Astralis legends play Wingman against each other

gla1ve gives update on device’s form

7 years and counting! Here are the most loyal players in CS:GO

Astralis set to revive themselves as Elisa Masters Espoo begins today

IEM Katowice Major 2019: Astralis surpass legacy

ELEAGUE Major Atlanta 2017: The beginning of an Era

YNk on the future of Astralis: The best thing that could happen to Astralis is not making it to the Major

Live: IEM Road to Rio EU (Group A)

Live: ESL Pro League Group C (Day 4)

gla1ve: I have played in four Major finals, but there has never been more pressure than now

gla1ve: I try to not care about how I look individually

gla1ve's tips & tricks: How to stop a B-rush on Dust 2

Astralis defeat Movistar Riders in two-day match

Astralis secure a spot in the Grand final at Pinnacle Cup Championship

Today in CS:GO - Friday 10/6 - 2022

gla1ve after exit: We’re kind of getting used to the bad tournaments now

Astralis Sports Director, Kasper Hvidt: It was a mistake by gla1ve to take the AWP from Farlig

Follow Pley

	30 days	90 days
Fixture count	8	20
Maps count	17	44