Top Danish Counter-Strike Team Undergoes Roster Change
The best Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team in Denmark is making a change to its roster.
Markus Kjærbye, who has been competing with Astralis for almost two years, will not be representing the organization in 2018. This brings an end to the most successful CS:GO roster in Danish history. In 2017, the team became the first Danish team to win a Valve Major.
However, Kjærbye will continue to play Danish CS:GO, as he seems to be joining North, Astralis’ biggest domestic rivals. North recently benched veteran player René “cajunb” Borg and Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke. The team will announce a “major signing” at a press conference later this morning. (source)
Kjærbye’s decision came just five days after the conclusion of the ELEAGUE Major: Boston, where Astralis failed to advance past the group stage. Although they were eliminated by the eventual winners Cloud9, Astralis’ performance was far below their previous Valve Major runs.
According to Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander, the in-game leader for Astralis, the rest of the team only found out about Kjærbye’s decision to leave earlier today, by which time he had already signed a contract with North.
Kjærbye’s former teammates have taken to Twitter to express their frustration with how everything unfolded.
While North has some of the best players in Denmark, they have struggled to establish themselves as a major force in the international CS:GO circuit. Thus, signing a star player like Kjærbye is a huge move for them.
Update Feb. 2 5:00am CT: North has confirmed the signing.
esports, Counter-Strike, Denmark, roster change, Astralis, CS:GO, North, Valve Major, ELEAGUE Major: Boston