Astralis has revealed that Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth will be temporarily joining Astralis Talent to make room for Alexander “Altekz” Givskov, who was promoted to the main team on Monday. This announcement comes a week after Astralis failed to secure a spot in the upcoming BLAST.tv Paris Major, set to take place from May 8-21.
During the European RMR for the French Major, the Danish team recorded a disappointing 1-3 performance. Their elimination game ended in a 0-2 loss to Ninjas in Pyjamas, forcing the roster to miss consecutive Majors. Xyp9x, a founding member of Astralis, has been with the organization since its inception in January 2016, although he has been part of the roster since 2014 under the Dignitas banner.
Xyp9x’s most successful period was during his six-year tenure with Astralis, where he helped the team win four Major championships, three of which were consecutive, as well as 15 other Big Event trophies. However, Astralis has recently struggled to maintain its status as a global powerhouse, missing out on both the IEM Rio and BLAST.tv Paris Majors.
The main team’s absence from IEM Katowice was also due to insufficient points on the ESL World Ranking. Their most recent strong showing at a tier-one LAN event was at IEM Cologne in July 2022, where they secured a 3rd-4th place finish.
In contrast, Astralis Talent has been flourishing, claiming victories at domestic events like the SDTV Invitational and POWER Ligaen and taking first place at CCT North Europe Series 4. Astralis hopes that Xyp9x’s temporary transfer to the academy roster will further boost the developmental team’s performance. The 27-year-old brings years of tier-one experience and valuable knowledge for the less experienced players.
Astralis’ Director of Sports, Kasper Hvidt, praised Altekz’s consistent high-level performance in 2023 and stated that the first team coaches are eager to work with him. Xyp9x expressed his disappointment at missing the Major qualification but remains committed to helping the organization and the team.
For now, Astralis’ roster consists of gla1ve, blameF, device, Buzz, and Altekz, with casle as the coach. Astralis Talent’s lineup includes Kristou, Patti, br0, MistR, and Xyp9x, with R0nic as the coach.
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