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After the ELEAGUE Boston Major the world of pro Counter-Strike once again decided to have a big old roster shuffle.

Teams disbanded, new groups were formed and even some of the biggest names in the world swapped out a player or two.

But perhaps the most surprising change was Markus "Kjaerbye" Kjærbye leaving Astralis to join North. This even surprised his team mates, with them only finding out hours before the announcement of his move.

This meant that Astralis had to find a replacement and quickly, as they were due to play in competitions just a few weeks after the Major.

The all Danish side were obviously looking at the available talent from their country and region, trying to keep an all-Danish lineup.

Fortunately for them, Danish superstar Emil "Magisk" Reif had been playing on OpTic Gaming for the past six months, a roster that felt like players making the best of a bad situation after leaving their old teams.

OpTic struggled for results and had some organisational issues, such as having to play the North American ESL Pro League despite all their players living in Europe.

Because of OpTic’s troubles, many assumed that Astralis would try and sign Magisk, which is eventually what they did.

Surprisingly, Magisk revealed to us at IEM Katowice 2018 that all the OpTic players gave him their blessing to move teams at relatively short notice.

“I was going to stay [on OpTic] until I got the offer from Astralis, I mean, it was just a too good offer to say no to,” says Magisk.

“Everyone on OpTic told me that if I get the offer, I should say yes and they would understand it and respect it fully and have no bad feelings about it. It was a pretty smooth transition and I think it was the obvious choice for me.”

The match seems perfect for all parties, apart from OpTic, who had now lost one of the best players in the game.

But even though most people in scene thought it was an obvious choice, even Magisk didn’t count on the offer coming his was entirely.

“I didn't expect it 100% because I know others players were a candidate as well,” says Magisk.

“But I think that after talking with the guys and they listened to me, how I wanted to play the game and how I wanted my role to be in Astralis as well.”

“I think it was the perfect fit for them because Dupreeh, he wanted to play the role Kjaerbye had before and I actually wanted to play the role that Dupreeh had previous. It was the perfect fit and I'm just happy that I'm performing as well with the team.”

The move seems to have worked out surprisingly well. Astralis are currently top four at IEM Katowice, and could easily make the final for the second year running.

It has only been a few weeks, but their results have been good and with more time they will presumably improve even further and may reclaim their spot as the best team in the world.

Magisk has also looked great on an individual level. Back when he was in his prime on North a little over a year ago many tipped him as one of the best in the world, but he could never quite make the jump to the very top level of individual play.

But no on Astralis he says that his aim is to get back to that level and finally break into the top five individual players in the world.

Magisk has also looked great on an individual level. Back when he was in his prime on North a little over a year ago many tipped him as one of the best in the world, but he could never quite make the jump to the very top level of individual play.

But no on Astralis he says that his aim is to get back to that level and finally break into the top five individual players in the world.

“I'm pretty sure if I can't do it with this team, and the in-game leading of gla1ve, then I don't have the potential to be [the best in the world], but I'm pretty sure it will make it,” says Magisk.

“I'm already feeling more confident than I've been in years, I also think it's possible to see that in my game and how I'm playing right now. I feel confident in this in-game leader and in general, my teammates now. That helps my performance on the individual level as well.”

Only time will tell if he can actually make it to the very top of the CS world, but things are looking good.

Astralis face off against FaZe Clan in just a few hours to determine who will make it to the grand final, and there is every chance that they end up winning the whole event, which would be quite the start for this new look roster.