Yesterday, the group stage of ESL Pro League Season 17 ended, and all the playoffs participants were determined. Unfortunately, Astralis was not among them, and this is far from the first Major tournament in which the Danish team failed.
The last Major tournament in which Astralis made it to the playoffs was IEM Cologne 2022, which took place from July 7 to July 17, 2022. So what happened to the Danes?
The latest results of Astralis at Major tournaments
After IEM Cologne 2022, Astralis' performance deteriorated significantly. At the end of the first half of the season, the Danes were able to show an excellent game, despite the confusion with the team, which began after the departure of Mikolai dev1ce Rydtz. Then Astralis not only entered the tournament playoffs but also took 3rd-4th place. It seemed that the Danes had finally found their game, but everything went wrong after the summer Player Break.
First, Astralis failed at BLAST Premier Fall Groups 2022, which sent the team to Showdown. Immediately after this, the Danes experienced problems with the open qualification for RMR, which they passed for the fourth time. Then, at the ESL Pro League Season 16, Astralis did not make it to the playoffs, and after that, they removed Christian k0nfig Vyneke from the team due to reputational risks and went to RMR with a stand-in from the academy. Failing there was like death because, in that case, the Danes missed the major.
Astralis finished the tournament with a 1-3 record, which blocked their path to the Major and affected IEM Katowice 2023, where the Danes will not be invited. BLAST Premier Fall Showdown 2022 was the last chance to advance to a tier-1 tournament in 2022, and Astralis almost did it, but Heroic stopped them in the final.
The result of these performances was that after the return of dev1ce, Astralis did not have a slot in a single tier-1 championship. The Danes also failed the first major event - the team did not reach the playoffs of ESL Pro League Season 17. The black streak of Astralis has lasted for eight months.
At the same time, the team misses the playoff events and the tournaments themselves. Over the past eight months, Astralis took part in two major tournaments out of six. How did it happen, and is there hope for Astralis?
The novice of Astralis doesn't play well
At the beginning of the season, the Danes completed their team with the help of MASONIC's player Christian Buzz Andersen. This was far from the first young player signed by Astralis. But this time, everything looked different because the team took time to sign but tested performers for a long time until Buzz approached the team. However, at the first major championship, it turned out that the player needed more time to be ready for tier-1.
His average rating in ESL Pro League Season 17 was 5.6, which is insufficient for stable victories.
Two core players show a weak performance
When we talk about Astralis core players, we mean Andreas Xyp9x Hoyslet and Lucas gla1ve Rossander, who have stayed on the team for over six years. And at the moment, they cannot show a competitive performance at tier-1. Both players finished ESL Pro League Season 17 with a rating below 6. So maybe it's time for big changes at Astralis.
Dev1ce and blameF - the last hope of Astralis
But the team still has that thread that can save the club. This pair of players shows not only the best performance in the team but also easily resists other tier-1 teams. Benjamin blameF Bremer and dev1ce show a great game, which their rating reflects every time. Even in the worst matches, they reach a rating of 6.5. Their statistics at the ESL Pro League Season 17 show this.
At the moment, Astralis is experiencing one of the most severe crises in the organization's history. However, this does not mean there is no way out because there are still good players on the team whose performance looks decent at the tier-1 level. The upcoming RMR to BLAST.tv Paris Major will be a turning point for the Danes. According to the result, the club will decide on changes in the roster.
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