Revamp in progress: Astralis bench CSGO coach trace

Following a disappointing performance in the 2022 season, Astralis have benched CSGO coach Martin “trace” Heldt. 

The decision was made in response to the group’s disappointing season 2022 results, which included the Danish team’s absence from the Intel Extreme Masters Rio Major. Initially, trace served as the coach of Astralis’ academy team, Astralis Talent, and at the start of March, the 31-year-old took control of the main division following Alexander “ave” Hold’s suspension due to a spectator bug exploitation. The Danish squad struggled to compete for championships for the most part under his leadership, with their best performances being a quarterfinal finish at the ESL Pro League Season 15 and a semi-finals finish at IEM Cologne 2022.

 

Casle to step in as new head coach 

As management looks for a long-term replacement for trace, Astralis Talent coach Peter “casle” Ardenskjold has been appointed to take temporary control of the team. After switching from playing to coaching, casle joined club machines as his first team in 2019. Since then, he has been the coach of numerous tier-2 teams, including Singularity, MASONIC, and Astralis Talent.

Though he only held the team’s leadership position for one month, he hasn’t accomplished anything with Astralis Talent. The ESL Rotterdam 2022: European Open Qualifier was one of the qualifying events he guided Astralis Talent through, though he was unable to achieve the expected results. Despite this, the Danish esports organization seems to give casle a chance while attempting to find a long-term replacement for trace.

Astralis to revamp its roster

Further, Anders Hørsholt, CEO of Astralis stated that the organization would be revamping its CS:GO lineup in the upcoming weeks and months in an effort to recover from the team’s worst campaign since 2016. According to the organization, changes and upgrades will be made in the upcoming weeks as previous performances have fallen far short of expectations.

According to reports, star player of Ninjas in Pyjamas, Nicolai “device” Reedtz, who has been absent from competitive play for a year, can make a comeback with the Danish organization. It has been reported that Ninjas in Pyjamas and Astralis have already reached an agreement on the price to transfer the player.

The current lineup of Astralis:

• Lukas “⁠gla1ve⁠” Rossander
• Andreas “⁠Xyp9x⁠” Højsleth
• Benjamin “⁠blameF⁠” Bremer
• Asger “⁠Farlig⁠” Jensen
• Peter “castle” Ardenskjold (coach)

Next up for Astralis is BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2022, where stand-in Mikkel “MistR” Thomsen will replace Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke, who left the team earlier this year. The Danish team will compete in the European division from October 19 to October 23 in an effort to win a spot in the BLAST Premier Fall Final 2022.

Header: PGL