After his departure from OpTic was announced earlier today, it has been revealed that Emil "Magisk" Reif has joined Astralis.

Astralis have finalized their roster, signing Emil "⁠Magisk⁠" Reif as their fifth player. The 19-year-old will come in as a replacement for Markus "⁠Kjaerbye⁠" Kjærbye, who abruptly left the team and moved to North last week.

Magisk returns to an all-Danish lineup

Astralis' coach Danny "⁠zonic⁠" Sørensen stated with they have been keeping an eye out for Magisk for some time now, and that they aim to re-establish themselves at the top, something in which Magisk's firepower and having "even clearer roles on the team" should help:

"Emil is one of the most talented players in the world. Fortunately for us, he’s never really gotten the credit, but combined with his style of play, his personality and the motivation he has shown to play for Astralis it’s close to a perfect match. He has already proven himself on the highest level, and I am confident he will grow even further in the Astralis and RFRSH surroundings. He has the potential to become one of the best players in the world, and in time, I think he can get there." "Friday came as a bit of a surprise to us all, but the culture in Astralis is always to be prepared for even the unthinkable, and we always keep track of players who can potentially step in in case of illness, injuries or sudden changes. The second we learned about Kjaerbyes new plans, we started working to secure the best possible replacement, and out of our options, I am excited that we ended up signing Emil. " "Our ambition for 2018 is to bring home some of the big trophies, and to re-establish ourselves in the top, and by adding Emil’s firepower and even clearer roles on the team, I believe we’ll get there."

Magisk, who officially left OpTic earlier today, revealed that since he was contacted by Astralis, he had no doubt in his mind where he wanted to continue his career:

"Ever since Danny send me a message, I haven’t had a second thought. I want to play for Astralis, it’s by far the biggest team in Denmark and one of the biggest teams in the world, and this is where I want to be the coming years. The players, the team and the facilities are second to none and I think very few players would turn down an opportunity like this." "I do wish to take the time to thank OpTic and everybody in the org. I had a great time there and they have been helpful even in this phase. I have a deep respect for everybody there, and I am proud to have been a part of OpTic! But playing for Astralis is just an opportunity I can’t turn down."

The Danish team will debut their new player in ESL Pro League Season 7, before attending two LANs in the next month: StarSeries i-League Season 4 and IEM Katowice 2018. To follow up on the signing, Astralis will also host a "fan conference" on their Facebook page starting at 14:10 .

Astralis are now: