This speculation arises from a report last week by DBLTAP.com, suggesting that Astralis is 'seeking opportunities to recruit at least one more player' to their roster. Astralis announced plans to expand their roster to 6 members starting March, following their agreement with Patrick 'es3tag' Hansen, with possibilities to even extend it to 8 members.
Astralis Signing JUGi to Strengthen Their Lineup?
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Since es3tag can only join Astralis after his contract with Heroic ends in late June, JUGi will likely join the team first as this 23-year-old AWPer is currently a free agent and will 'immediately join the team,' according to TV2.dk's report.
JUGi has been a free agent since the end of April, when his contract with North expired. Previously in his career, he has also played for OpTic, but has never been able to replicate his form from his early career days with Heroic and Tricked.
The peak period of this 23-year-old gamer was from 2015-2016 when he became one of the best AWPers in the game. However, it's hard to understand why JUGi would reach the level of global CS stars like device, s1mple, or ZywOo, despite being considered talented.
Astralis has secured a seasoned AWPer in Nicolai 'dev1ce' Reedtz, and even Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen performs admirably in this role whenever given the chance. Therefore, the likelihood of YUGi playing regularly isn't very high, but nonetheless, this signing adds diversity to Astralis' roster. Hopefully, becoming teammates with world-class gamers will help the young Danish player rise to the expectations set for him.
If this report is confirmed, the Astralis lineup will include:
- Nicolai 'device' Reedtz
- Peter 'dupreeh' Rasmussen
- Andreas 'Xyp9x' Højsleth
- Lukas 'gla1ve' Rossander
- Emil 'Magisk' Reif
- Danny 'zonic' Sørensen (coach)
- Jakob 'JUGi' Hansen (backup)
- Patrick 'es3tag' Hansen (backup) (1/7/2020)