Buzz
Astralis has dominated the global professional CS:GO scene for the past 2 years, from 2018 to 2019, with a cohesive, disciplined playstyle, complemented by effective grenade usage and strategic prowess. Within this period, they have clinched numerous prestigious titles, including 3 Major championships and the Season 1 Grand Slam, with a prize pool of $1 million.
However, in the early months of 2020, Astralis struggled to maintain consistency in their performance. Their LAN results were subpar, evident from their bottom-of-the-table finish in Group B at the BLAST Premier Spring Series and a third-fourth place finish at IEM Katowice 2020. Furthermore, in early March, they lost the top spot in HLTV's rankings to Na`vi, the team that directly eliminated them in the IEM Katowice 2020 semifinals.
In their ambition to reclaim the throne in the world of CS:GO, Astralis has decided to recruit a sixth member with the aim of diversifying their lineup and improving their gameplay. This move surprised the community as Patrick 'es3tag' Hansen was chosen for the role. The 24-year-old player will officially become a member of Astralis on July 1st after his contract with Heroic expires.
After announcing the successful signing of es3tag, numerous sources suggest that this will not be Astralis' only roster addition in 2020. According to journalist DeKay, the Danish organization is still exploring the possibility of adding 1-2 more players to their lineup. This means that Astralis will have up to 8 members in their team, allowing them to diversify their playstyle at tournaments with substitution options.
Regarding this decision, Astralis' coach, Danny 'zonic' Sørensen, stated that signing new players will help improve the overall quality of the team. 'This decision is made to ensure the well-being of the players, and our entire team believes it's the right choice,' added zonic.
At the current moment, although no longer dominating as before, Astralis' results are still relatively promising. In LAN tournaments, they reached the semifinals of IEM Katowice 2020 but finished bottom of the table in the BLAST Premier Spring Series. In online competitions, the team concluded ESL Pro League Season 11 in the European region with a record of 4-1 in ESL One: Road to Rio Europe, with their only loss against fnatic.
