The Eleague Major came to an end with Cloud9 claiming the trophy. The lack of success from the European teams was alarming, especially considering how dominant Europe used to be in the years gone by. The finals were between Faze, an international team and Cloud9 a North American roster.

Denmark has always been one of the strongest regions in terms of Counter-Strike talent. While the current Astralis roster has led the charts in terms of skill for a long time, there have been several other ‘strong’ Danish teams such as North, Heroic, etc.

The Danish Drama

The public announcement was made via the official communication channels by Astralis and North on 2nd of February 2018. The news came after several days of speculation about a Danish roster shuffle. However, no one had guessed that Kjaerbye would be leaving the Astralis roster.

Even the rest of the Astralis players themselves did not have any knowledge about the roster change. Glaive tweeted out his surprise on the news of Kjaerbye leaving the team. Indeed the rest of the team became a party to this knowledge only a mere 2 hours before the actual press conference.

Obviously, the players were kept in the dark by the Astralis management about the transfer. This is quite a surprise, as not many expected the Astralis team to potentially go a roster change so soon.

Did Astralis have a problem?

Astralis do not have a problem with their roster. Yes, they did not have good results at the recent Major. But to be fair, we saw a lot of changes in their playstyle and roles during the Boston Major. Device was unavailable to play for quite some time. Astralis were not sure if they would be able to play with Device until almost 2018.

I wish @KjaerbyeCS good luck in @TheNorthIsHere & they will get a great addition to their team. However, personally I am so dissapointed and have never experienced anything like this in my 19 years of CS. To all the @astralisgg fans I ensure u that I will work day & night 1/2 — Danny Sørensen (@zonic_cs) February 2, 2018



Eventually, they did get some practice with Device. But they swapped roles for some of the players. Device went to play on the rifle, while Dupreeh went to the AWP.

They suffered embarrassing defeats at the Boston Major, but it was attributed due to the role swaps within the team. The faith in the Astralis capability to bounce back and become a top team was high. But the roster change definitely comes in as a huge shock to everyone concerned.

Potential Replacements?

The Astralis roster is left with only four players. With the majority of the roster not knowing about the move till just about the press conference, there is no idea who their new fifth player will be. We take a short look at some of the potentials for the Astralis roster.

Dennis

Dennis is one of the first minds that comes to mind. He is one of the most talented individuals available on the free market. He has already been a stand-in for Astralis during late last year when he had to replace Device ( who was hospitalized ). His performance with the Astralis teammates was exceptionally good and he was a strong performer during the Blast Pro Series 2017. He is also one of the best Pistol round players in the game right now.

K0nfig

With Kjaerbye moving to North, K0nfig has been benched on the team. K0nfig has been a star player on the North roster, however, the fact that he has been benched might suggest towards a possible player swap.

Astralis players obviously need to have a part in the decision making of choosing their fifth player. It’s not yet decided since the players themselves had no idea about the swap. But if they do decide to go with K0nfig, it would make a formidable roster indeed.

This is also more probable cause of a deleted tweet which read

N K – A K

Is this a suggestion for North Kjaerbye – Astralis K0nfig? Only time will tell.

Jugi

Jugi is currently contracted to Heroic. However, Heroic has always been viewed as a feeder team to the top two Danish Counter strike teams in Astralis and North. Jugi moving to Astralis would be a good fit as he is a very talented player. The fact that he is Danish also helps solve any potential communication conflicts with Dennis.

Final Thoughts

The move by Astralis and North has definitely surprised the players and is probably not a good way to sideline your players in making a team roster decision. The players should have a part in deciding the fate of their roster.

Nothing but disappointed — Peter Rothmann (@dupreehCSGO) February 2, 2018

The three potential replacements mentioned here are just initial impressions of who could potentially be an option. There are Swedish shuffles imminent in the near future. Maybe we will see an International team being formed with the Astralis core.

Let us know who else you think is a potential for the fifth player position in Astralis in comments.