If you are a follower of CSGO tournaments, especially those of the Astralis team, you will see just how much this team’s performance has declined. Since winning their third consecutive Major championship in 2020, Astralis has faced a severe downfall, being eliminated and losing their crown until now. The former “king” of CSGO has made changes and added young talent Philip “Lucky” Ewald to upgrade the roster, but that still hasn’t been enough for Astralis to reclaim the prestigious throne from that year.
Recently, Astralis said goodbye to three members: Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, Emil “Magisk” Reif, and head coach Danny “zonic” Sørensen. These are all figures who contributed to the success of the team’s trophy-laden training room. Prior to this, Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz also left to seek new opportunities with NIP. Thus, four out of six names that built the Astralis brand (including head coach zonic) have officially left the team.
After the extremely successful Major championship in 2020, the entire team switched to online play due to the pandemic situation. Astralis had a less than explosive start. As time went on, AST’s performance declined further, and the holders of three consecutive championships were officially eliminated before the Playoff round.
However, the main reason is not that Astralis had a less successful season in 2021; rather, it is that Magisk, dupreeh, and zonic have officially completed their contracts with the team. Meanwhile, AST has renewed contracts with gla1ve until 2024 and Xyp9x until 2025.
The AST roster for 2022 will include: Xyp9x, gla1ve, Lucky, k0nfig, blufig, and ave as head coach. This could promise a new chapter with the explosive talent of Lucky and the seasoned experience of his older teammates.
Three consecutive championships are a significant achievement for the trio of former Astralis members. Their brightest prospect now is Team Vitality, as they recently parted ways with Richard “shox” Papillon and coach Rémy “XTQZZZ” Quoniam.