Astralis
Danny "zonic" Sørensen Lukas "gla1ve" RossanderAstralis is a Danish organization owned by players of the former Danish Team SoloMid/Questionmark lineup, with the help of their manager, Frederik "realition" Byskov. The rights to the Astralis name were obtained from the original founders of the Finnish Counter-Strike team. [1]
As of May 19th and as a result of cajunb and Kjaerbye swapping teams with eachother, Astralis later announced in a Q&A on their website that these roster changes do not automatically revoke him of his ownership with the organization, nor automatically grant Kjaerbye ownership with the organization, as the other staff may later decide what takes effect later on. [2] While Bo "wantz" Vestergaard was still in the team as a backup, he was never declared an owner nor granted any form of ownership either.
History[edit]
A New Beginning[edit]
Astralis’ first event was DreamHack Leipzig 2016 in January 2016. The team topped their group after defeating their Danish brethren Dignitas and the European-mix team mousesports in best-of-ones, however they exited the event in the semi-final losing 0-2 to Luminosity Gaming. Their next LAN was Global eSports Cup where they topped their group once again, this time with best-of-three wins over Method and G2 Esports. They would go on to lose the semi-final vs their rivals from the previous year, Team EnVyUs 1-2 and then defeat CLG in the third-place decider, only losing seven rounds over two maps. ESL Expo Barcelona was up next which featured an unusual format where each team had three lives and a map loss would mean a life lost. Astralis won five maps against G2 Esports, x6tence, Team EnVyUs and Dignitas. Astralis narrowly lost a life to G2 and played two close games vs Fnatic in the faux-final as the only two teams left.
IEM Katowice was next and Astralis would once again top their group and go straight to the semi-final with best-of-one wins over Team EnVyUs, Virtus.Pro, E-Frag, FaZe Clan and Tempo Storm. Astralis were set to play the last match of the day vs Fnatic, but due to delays, this didn’t start until midnight and finally finished at 3am with Astralis losing 1-2.
Astralis were expected to go far in MLG Columbus, the eighth CS:GO Major following their 2nd place finish to Natus Vincere at Counter Pit League Season 2. The event started well as Astralis beat Gambit and CLG to top their group but were rewarded by being drawn against Fnatic in the Quarterfinals, the favourites to win the whole event after winning their previous six events in a row. Things did not go well for the Swedes though, as Astralis won in two maps, 16-10 on Overpass and 16-5 on Fnatic’s map pick, Cache due to a standout performance from Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen. Astralis went on to face Navi in the semi-final where they narrowly lost Inferno 14-16 and were outclassed on Dust II thanks to stellar performances from Ioann “Edward” Sukhariev and Egor “flamie” Vasiliyev.
Change is Required[edit]
Over the next few events Astralis did not live up to their reputation of cleaning up in groups and advancing comfortably to playoffs. Their first group stage exit in six months occurred at DreamHack Masters Malmö 2016, where they won the opener vs Lounge Gaming but were upset by their Danish counterparts, Dignitas 9-16 on their home map Overpass. Astralis drew the hometown heroes, Ninjas in Pyjamas in the decider match and lost 1-2 with poor performances from dupreeh and IGL Finn “karrigan Andersen. NiP would go on to win the event in front of a roaring Swedish crowd. A month later, the team attended ESL Pro League S3 Finals in England. This time they lost to the North American mix of OpTic Gaming in a best-of-one 7-16 and came up against the Columbus Major champions, Luminosity. They fought a tough best-of-three, winning the first map and narrowly lost the remaining two despite Nicolai “device” Reedtz having a K-D of 81-50. Luminosity went on to win this event in a gruelling best-of-five vs G2. Following this defeat Astralis decided to swap René “cajunb” Borg for Dignitas’ Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjaerbye who was headhunted by Astralis’ coach, Danny “zonic” Sørensen whom he knew from his time coaching him during 2015.
With a month of practice Astralis attended DreamHack Summer 2016, and this time things were looking up as they topped their group, comfortably defeating the Finnish ENCE eSports and Danish SK Gaming. An all too familiar story occurred in playoffs where they faced NiP in the semi-finals and once again fought a strong best-of-three but ultimately lost 1-2, nearly winning on Cobblestone, Astralis’ perma-ban map. Astralis played their ELEAGUE Season 1 group in June, topping their group winning 5 out of 6 maps vs NRG, CLG and SK Gaming with the help of zonic standing in for IGL karrigan who arrived late to the event. They then won best-of-threes vs NRG and CLG. At ECS Season 1 Finals Astralis once again uncharacteristically lost to a North American team, this time being Team SoloMid led by Kory “SEMPHIS” Friesen. They went on to face Cloud9 in the decider match and were beaten 0-2.
Astralis went into ESL One Cologne 2016, the second CS:GO Major of the year with a stand-in for Kjaerbye in the form of Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander. This was because Kjaerbye played and won the European Minor with Dignitas and Valve rules dictated he had to sit the event out. In Germany, Astralis defeated their Danish rivals Dignitas in the event opener but were destroyed by the CIS Gambit Gaming team in the winner’s best-of-one 6-16. Tragedy struck after this loss with Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen getting appendicitis and resulted in him watching the remainder of the event from hospital. Coach zonic rose to the challenge having not played the game since ELEAGUE a month prior and Astralis scraped through to the playoffs besting Dignitas 2-1. Astralis were drawn vs the Polish legends Virtus.pro in the quarterfinals, however they were unable to best them despite a strong performance from device going 68-43 in K-D and taking the Poles to overtime on both maps.
After the Major Astralis returned to Atlanta to attend the ELEAGUE playoffs but lost to mousesports 0-2 in the quarterfinals. Shortly after they attended Power-LAN, a small Danish event. They advanced to the semi-finals as expected but lost to Heroic 1-2, led by their Major stand-in gla1ve. Less than two weeks later Heroic bested Astralis again, this time in the opener at StarLadder StarSeries Season 2 16-13 on Train. Astralis were pitted vs Oleksandr "s1mple" Kostyliev’s Navi in the elimination match and won in overtime 19-17. Astralis won vs the Chinese TyLoo 2-1 to advance to the quarterfinals but once again lost to NiP 1-2.
In October Astralis attended ESL New York 2016 featuring an 8 team Swiss format in which they grinded past G2 Esports 16-13 but didn’t win another map against opponents SK Gaming (former Luminosity), Fnatic and OpTic Gaming. A week later they bombed out in the round of 12 at WESG 2016 European Finals losing 1-2 to GODSENT with the two maps they lost being 14-16. A breakdown in the team occurred and Astralis decided it was time for karrigan to go, opting for gla1ve instead. karrigan had led the core players since December 2014 to five tournament wins in 2015 but none since forming Astralis.
A Return to the Elite[edit]
Astralis returned to what was expected from them after poor placings throughout the majority of 2016 by topping their group at ELEAGUE Season 2 with best-of-one victories against ALTERNATE aTTaX and SK Gaming. A week later they topped their six-team group at IEM Oakland 2016 with wins vs Team Liquid, Natus Vincere, Immortals and TyLoo with the only loss vs G2 Esports. This netted them a semi-final spot and they lost 0-2 to SK Gaming 14-16 and 12-16 where Nicolai “device” Reedtz had an uncharacteristically poor showing. The team returned to Atlanta for the ELEAGUE playoffs and reached the final, triumphing over Ninjas in Pyjamas 2-1 with Markus “Kjaerbye” Kjaerbye posting a 1.56 HLTV rating, beating SK 2-0 with a stellar performance by Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth. Astralis were expected to win the final vs OpTic Gaming after defeating the Brazilian favourites in the semi-final and OpTic causing upsets on the other side of the bracket. The Danes looked like they were on their way to do this with a 16-9 win on Train but lost the next two maps 6-16 and 11-16 with Keith “NAF” Markovic putting up an incredible 78-45 K-D.
Astralis would get revenge against the North American side a week later at ECS Season 2 Finals in Anaheim winning their first match of the group 16-7, followed by a 16-3 trouncing over FaZe Clan with Xyp9x going 25-5 against the European team. In the semi-final Astralis bested SK Gaming 2-0 with device achieving a 46-19 K-D over 45 rounds. OpTic met them in the final but this time the Danish side were too hot for them to handle and Astralis obtained their first trophy since they formed twelve months prior.
Timeline[edit]
Player Roster[edit]
Active[edit]
| Active Squad | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ID | Name | Join Date | |||
|
|
dev1ce | Nicolai Reedtz | 2016-01-18 [3][11] | ||
|
|
dupreeh | Peter Rothmann | 2016-01-18 [3] | ||
|
|
Xyp9x | Andreas Højsleth | 2016-01-18 [3] | ||
|
|
gla1ve 
|
Lukas Rossander | 2016-10-24 [8] | ||
|
|
Magisk | Emil Reif | 2018-02-07 [13] | ||
|
|
zonic (Coach) | Danny Sørensen | 2016-01-18 [3] | ||
Former[edit]
| Former Players | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ID | Name | Join Date | Leave Date | New Team | ||
|
|
Kjaerbye | Markus Kjærbye | 2016-05-19 [6] | 2018-02-02 [12] |  North
| |
|
|
karrigan
|
Finn Andersen | 2016-01-18 [3] | 2016-10-19 [7] |  FaZe Clan
| |
|
|
cajunb | René Borg | 2016-01-18 [3] | 2016-05-19 [6] |  Team Dignitas
| |
|
|
wantz (Backup) | Bo Vestergaard | 2016-03-08 [4] | 2016-05-09 [5] |  The Imperial
| |
| Temporary stand-ins | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ID | Name | Replacing | ID | Name | Tournament(s) | |||
|
RUBINO |
Ruben Villarroel |  |
|
dev1ce | Nicolai Reedtz |  ECS Season 4 - Finals [10] ESL Pro League Season 6: Finals [10]
| |
|
dennis  |
Dennis Edman | |
|
dev1ce | Nicolai Reedtz |  BLAST Pro Series: Copenhagen 2017 [9]
| |
|
|
Pimp | Jacob Winneche | |
|
dev1ce | Nicolai Reedtz | ECS Season 4 - Europe (Week 7) [9]
| |
|
|
zonic  |
Danny Sørensen | |
|
dev1ce | Nicolai Reedtz |  IEM Season XII Oakland (vs. Ninjas in Pyjamas) [14]ESL Pro League Season 5 (vs. Virtus.pro) [15]
| |
|
|
NoTaN1dgl | Anton Pedersen | |
|
karrigan | Finn Andersen | ESL Pro League Season 4 (Week 9) [16]
| |
|
|
zonic |
Danny Sørensen | |
|
dupreeh | Peter Rothmann |  ESL One Cologne 2016 (Group Decider & Playoffs) [17]
| |
|
|
gla1ve  |
Lukas Rossander | |
|
Kjaerbye | Markus Kjærbye | ESL One Cologne 2016 [18]
| |
|
|
zonic |
Danny Sørensen | |
|
karrigan | Finn Andersen |  ELEAGUE Season 1 (vs. NRG Esports & Counter Logic Gaming) [19]
| |
Team Achievements[edit]
| Date | Placement | Tier | Tournament | Results | Prize | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-09-02 | 2nd | Premier | 
|
DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018 | 1 : 2 |
|
$50,000 |
| 2018-07-29 | 1st | Premier |
|
ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2018 | 2 : 0 | 
|
$500,000 |
| 2018-06-10 | 1st | Premier |
|
Esports Championship Series Season 5 - Finals | 2 : 0 |
|
$250,000 |
| 2018-05-20 | 1st | Premier |
|
ESL Pro League Season 7 - Finals | 3 : 1 |
|
$250,000 |
| 2018-04-22 | 1st | Premier |
|
DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018 | 2 : 0 | 
|
$100,000 |
| 2017-10-13 | 2nd | Premier |
|
ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2017 | 0 : 2 |
|
$150,000 |
| 2017-03-05 | 1st | Premier |
|
Intel Extreme Masters XI - World Championship | 3 : 1 |
|
$104,000 |
| 2017-01-29 | 1st | Premier |
|
ELEAGUE Major: Atlanta 2017 | 2 : 1 | 
|
$500,000 |
| 2016-12-11 | 1st | Premier |
|
Esports Championship Series Season 2 - Finals | 2 : 0 | 
|
$250,000 |
| 2016-12-03 | 2nd | Premier |
|
ELEAGUE Season 2 | 1 : 2 |
|
$140,000 |
| About achievementsComplete Results in any Tournament | |||||||
Organization[edit]
Former[edit]
| Former Organization | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ID | Name | Position | Join Date | Leave Date | New Organization | |
|
|
realition | Frederik Byskov | CEO | 2016-01-18 [3] | 2018-03-12 [20] |  RFRSH
|
|
|
PHedemark | Phillip Rasmussen | Social Media Manager | 2016-01-18 [3] | 2016-12-31 [21] | North
|
|
|
JLK | Jakob Lund Kristensen | Founder | 2016-01-18 [3] | 2016-12-21 [22] | RFRSH
|
|
biglittle | Matthew Truelove | Creative Director | 2016-01-18 [3] | 2016-07-01 [23] | |
|
Moha Bensofia | VP Partnerships | Unknown | Unknown | ||
|
|
Stephan Christensen | Art Director | Unknown | Unknown | RFRSH
| |
Articles[edit]
2018[edit]
- 2018-08-28 | Astralis: A legend in the making by Milan "Striker" Švejda of HLTV.org
- 2018-07-30 | Astralis and the Beauty of Counter-Strike by Stephen "stuchiu" Chiu of VP Esports
- 2018-04-27 | No team in the world can stop Astralis by Stephen "stuchiu" Chiu of VP Esports at DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018
- 2018-04-23 | Astralis Over One Year Later: From IEM WC to DH Marseille by Stephen "stuchiu" Chiu of VP Esports at DreamHack Masters Marseille 2018
2017[edit]
- 2017-10-10 | Exposing perfection: The Astralis puzzle, and what's stopping them from being the best by Max Melit of Cybersport
- 2017-07-15 | The unsung champions - Astralis remain SK's greatest threat by Luis "MIRAA" Mira of HLTV.org at PGL Major Kraków 2017
2016[edit]
- 2016-10-12 | Examining Astralis' Major spot by Milan "Striker" Švejda of HLTV.org at ELEAGUE Major 2017
- 2016-05-21 | Kjaerbye and Astralis: A Comparison by Michal "stich" Malachowski of HLTV.org
Interviews[edit]
2017[edit]
- 2017-12-15 | Astralis Xyp9x: "We still don't know if dev1ce will be ready for the Major" by Dennis Gonzales and Daniel Rosen of theScore esports at ECS Season 4 - Finals
- 2017-01-28 | Astralis: "The job isn't done" by Milan "Striker" Švejda of HLTV.org at ELEAGUE Major 2017
2016[edit]
- 2016-01-19 | Astralis discuss offers, salaries by Milan "Striker" Švejda of HLTV.org
Highlights[edit]
2017[edit]
2016[edit]
Gallery[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ Phillip "PHedemark" Rasmussen (2016-01-19). "Team Questionmark becomes Astralis - players will be co-owners".
- ↑ "Q&A about Astralis Ownership". Astralis. 2016-05-20.
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 "Team Questionmark becomes Astralis". Astralis. 2016-01-18.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 do_0h (2016-03-09). "wantz joins Astralis as backup player". GreatFrag.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Michal "stich" Malachowski (2016-05-09). "FeTiSh returns in The Imperial". HLTV.org.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Milan "Striker" Švejda (2016-05-19). "Astralis replace cajunb with Kjaerbye". HLTV.org.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin (2016-10-19). "karrigan joins FaZe". HLTV.org.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Luis "MIRAA" Mira (2016-10-24). "gla1ve joins Astralis". HLTV.org.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin (2017-11-22). "device on medical leave, dennis and Pimp to stand in". HLTV.org.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin (2017-11-30). "Astralis to use RUBINO for ESL Pro League Finals". HLTV.org.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Luis "MIRAA" Mira (2018-01-11). "Astralis confirm device return at the ELEAGUE Major". HLTV.org.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Luis "MIRAA" Mira (2018-02-02). "Kjaerbye confirms North move". HLTV.org.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Astralis sign Magisk". Astralis. 2018-02-07.
- ↑ Zvonimir "Professeur" Burazin (2017-11-14). "zonic to step in for Astralis in first IEM Oakland game". HLTV.org.
- ↑ Sam Nordmark (2017-03-08). "Device sits out ESL Pro League matches due to medical issue". Dot Esports.
- ↑ Milan "Striker" Švejda (2016-10-11). "Astralis bench karrigan". HLTV.org.
- ↑ Bünyamin "BenjaCS" Bektaş (2016-07-06). "dupreeh to miss rest of major". HLTV.org.
- ↑ Milan "Striker" Švejda (2016-05-26). "Astralis to use gla1ve at major". HLTV.org.
- ↑ Luis "MIRAA" Mira (2016-06-06). "zonic steps in for Astralis in ELEAGUE". HLTV.org.
- ↑ RFRSH (2017-03-12). "RFRSH Entertainment and BLAST expands: Opens London Office".
- ↑ Phillip "PHedemark" Rasmussen (2017-01-02). "As '16 turns to '17 I'm leaving Astralis".
- ↑ Christian "Sander" Sandersen (2016-12-21). "JLK has surrendered joint control of Astralis" (in Danish). Dust2.dk.
- ↑ Matthew "biglittle" Truelove (2017-08-16). "The Final Chapter".
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