Astralis benches cadiaN, announces new IGL for CS2 team

After a string of underwhelming results, Astralis has opted to shake up its Counter-Strike 2 roster by dropping in-game leader Casper “cadiaN” Møller.

While Astralis was once known for its week-in, week-out dominance, that hasn’t been the case for some time. Instead, the organization has been a fairly steady source of controversy and schadenfreude for Counter-Strike fans. Part of that was the team’s disruptive signing of cadiaN in 2024, a move that was criticized by fans and pro players alike.

While on-server success is always the best way to silence critics, that’s been an extremely rare commodity for Astralis. Now, the team is dropping cadiaN in favor of a new captain.

Astralis benches cadiaN from CS2 roster after BLAST Austin Major qualifiers flop

Astralis announced that cadiaN is now on its bench, and that former G2 Esports player Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen is the new in-game leader.

cadiaN was brought aboard by Astralis in September 2024, a decision that generated controversy on multiple fronts. Fans criticized the organization for its treatment of Alexander “br0” Bro, pro players criticized the move due to substitution rules being seemingly flouted by Astralis, and the change was later lambasted by Team Liquid’s former coach.

Though cadiaN had an inauspicious debut in the 2024 BLAST Premier Fall Final, there were hints of strength when the team placed top four in the 2024 BLAST Premier World Final 2024. Unfortunately, most of the team’s results after that were early exits from larger tournaments and stumbles in qualifiers. The final straw for cadiaN proved to be an early exit from the BLAST Austin Major European qualifier.

Astralis seemingly pinned the team’s struggles of late on its IGL, discussing the move on social media.

“[cadiaN] has been benched, and we thank him for his time and efforts at Astralis. Casper has proven himself to be a true professional, however, in the end, neither he nor the team managed to reach the level of play we had all hoped for. We wish Casper all the best going forward,” Astralis’ CEO said in a statement on Twitter.

Alongside the benching of cadiaN, Astralis announced that it dropped Kasper Straube as the organization’s sports director. No other changes were confirmed for Astralis’ Counter-Strike 2 roster. cadiaN is benched by Astralis, and is not free to join a new team at this time.

HooXi back in action with Astralis after long stint on G2 Esports’ bench, free agency

HooXi will take over as Astralis’ in-game leader and will return to pro Counter-Strike after almost a year away from competition.

The 10-year veteran is a staple of the European Counter-Strike scene and is a proven tier-one talent. He rose to prominence in 2018 with Copenhagen Flames, and had an on-again, off-again relationship with the team from 2018 to 2022. In 2022 he was transferred to G2 Esports and helped the team post multiple tournament wins, including the 2022 BLAST Premier World Final, IEM Katowice 2023, and IEM Cologne 2023.

He was unceremoniously benched by G2 Esports in July 2024 and was released by the team entirely in December. His last tournament was the 2024 BLAST Spring Final in June 2024.

HooXi’s debut with Astralis will come at PGL Astana. The tournament begins May 10, 2025.