Here’s why CS2 players are protesting BLAST and Astralis

Astralis’ decision to bench Alexander “⁠br0⁠” Bro in favor of newly-signed Casper “⁠cadiaN⁠” Møller after the roster lock deadline for BLAST Fall FInals has caused tons of drama, but why are other CS2 pro players protesting the decision?

Danish Counter-Strike is no stranger to controversy, with Astralis and Heroic often finding themselves in the middle of it all. The former has landed under the spotlight for changing its BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 lineup weeks after the deadline to finalize players. Understandably, participating teams are opposing BLAST’s decision to allow the switch, citing the organizer’s history of strictly enforcing rules without exceptions for other teams in the past. This time, Astralis sparked controversy by announcing cadiaN would replace br0 at Fall Finals despite signing cadiaN 13 days after the September 4 roster lock deadline.

BLAST allows emergency swaps, but typically, a coach steps in to play. However, stories in this case don’t match, leading to a community-wide protest.

What’s the Astralis BLAST controversy?

According to BLAST, Astralis cited that br0 was “unfit” to play at BLAST Fall, allowing the team to swap in cadiaN as in-game leader. This vague reasoning was communicated as a “medical emergency” to participating teams. Suspicions turned into controversy when br0’s representative declared him healthy and fit to play, revealing Astralis had benched him and lied to the organizers.

Further fueling the controversy, br0 was spotted playing on FACEIT for eight hours shortly after Astralis deemed him unfit to compete. Additionally, journalist Richard Lewis reported that, according to his sources, br0 was trialing with ENCE. This raised questions about the legitimacy of the medical emergency claim.

Pro players are calling out BLAST for not doing due diligence before approving the last-minute roster change. According to the tournament organizer, it has “never asked teams for doctors notes,” hence it took Astralis at face value. However, the participating in-game leaders are not buying it.

Why did CS2 captains skip BLAST media day?

Seven CS2 captains signed an open letter calling on BLAST to take action against Astralis with six of them skipping media day in protest. The letter demands that Astralis be fined for lying to the organizer. Alternatively, the captains request that Astralis be forced to replace the player with their coach, as per the rules.

“We are not requesting evidence of br0’s situation, and we extend our best wishes and respect to him, if an emergency is indeed the case. As previously mentioned, rules are rules,” said the note.

Russel “⁠Twistzz⁠” Van Dulken,  Finn “⁠karrigan⁠” Andersen,  Marco “⁠Snappi⁠” Pfeiffer, and others tweeted a cryptic “I might be unfit for Blast Media tomorrow” in reference to the whole situation. Only four members of each team showed up the next day, with IGLs sitting out media day in protest. The intense backlash is likely due to BLAST’s past attitude towards similar cases. The organizer had G2 use its coach as a substitute at the 2024 Spring Final and enforced the same ruling for Heroic at Blast Fall Groups.

Despite protests, BLAST still stands by its decision to allow the Astralis roster change with a promise to look into the rulebook to better define the parameters of emergency substitutes in 2025.