After almost nine months on the inactive roster, four-time Major champion and clutch minister Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth has left his post at Astralis as only one member of the legendary core remains during a bleak time at the organization.
One of the founding members of Astralis, Xyp9x was first moved to the Astralis academy roster back in April 2023 but was then benched along with former teammate and Major winner gla1ve just a couple of months later. During his time with the team, Xyp9x established himself as one of the most consistent clutch Counter-Strike players, earning the “clutch minister” moniker. In addition to winning four Majors, he’s also earned four appearances on the yearly HLTV Top 20 lists.
Astralis is seeking to make its way out of the darkness with just one singular remaining member from its glory days: Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz. Coincidentally, it was when dev1ce left the team to sign with Ninjas in Pyjamas that Astralis began to struggle as a series of different roster moves and player trials saw decreasing returns. The team that won three Majors in a row was gone, and what remained struggled on the biggest stages. Astralis has now missed three Majors in a row.
The pieces that made up the legendary core are now spread across the world: Magisk on Team Falcons, gla1ve on ENCE, dupreeh with relatively new Danish organization Preasy Esport, dev1ce still on Astralis, and Xyp9x now going wherever he’s headed to next. Of this legendary core, only one player will be at the first CS2 Major at PGL Copenhagen, that being gla1ve with ENCE.
Even more responsibility will be placed on dev1ce going forward as well. The AWPer regarded once as one of the best players in the world is now taking on the in-game leadership responsibilities of a very young team. Astralis will have to look past the Major to IEM Chengdu and ESL Pro League season 19, both beginning in April.
