Astralis drops CSGO veteran gla1ve in a summer roster revamp

Astralis is going through a full-fledged rebuild, which means the red banner is dropping its veteran Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander after a seven-year stint. 

Astralis has undergone multiple changes in the past few years, striving to regain its former glory. However, all roster tweaks have yielded no fruitful outcome. The organization has finally decided to rebuild from the ground up, with the exception of Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz. But fans would be disheartened to know that gla1ve will be moving to the red bench. 

On June 22, Astralis confirmed that gla1ve is no longer on the starting roster. Instead, 18-year-old Victor “Staehr” Staehr will be replacing the Danish veteran. Andreas “Xyp9x” Høsjleth is also join the former shot-caller to make space for Johannes “b0RUP” Borup, completing Astralis’ starting five. 

“I would like to praise Andreas, Alexander, and Lukas for their efforts during a difficult period when, despite hard work from everyone, we have not made things succeed quite as we would have liked,” Astralis’ coach Peter “Casle” Ardenskjold, said in a statement.

gla1ve moves to Astralis’ bench

The revamp was initiated when Astralis publicly confirmed its separation from the controversial analyst Nicolai ‘”HUNDEN⁠” Petersen and director of sports Kasper Hvidt on June 21. After that, rumors of Staehr joining Astralis were ripe, but no one had expected b0rup to enter the fold. The young blood would be filling in the shoes of xyp9x and gla1ve, the two legends who propelled Astralis to multiple victories, with gla1ve spearheading the four major wins. 

“With Astralis, I’ve created life-long memories, and I’ll forever cherish that. I’ll continue to support from the sideline! Thanks to all supporters for standing by me and the team through the years. Just know I’m excited for what the future holds,” gla1ve said. 

Gla1ve’s future is currently unknown, but the former IGL has a long road ahead of him. For now, Astralis will be seeking Benjamin “blameF” Bremer’s services to call the shots, a job he’s been executing well on Mirage before the rostermania. Thanks to his stint at Complexity, the pro player is well-equipped to handle the new youngsters with the help of device, who’s the last Astralis veteran on the team. 

Here’s the fresh Astralis roster: 

• Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz
• Benjamin “blameF” Bremer
• Victor “Staehr” Staehr
• Christian “Buzz” Andersen
• Johannes “b0RUP” Borup
• Head coach: Peter “casle” Ardenskjold

The team will debut at BLAST Premier Fall Groups.