Astralis have signed Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek and Nikita "cmtry" Samolotov, completing a Counter-Strike 2 roster that no longer has a Danish majority, HLTV and Esports Insider reported. The pair fill the places left by Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen and Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard, who were benched on October 9. HLTV said the announcement confirmed earlier reports by HLTV and Sebastien "KRL" Perez, and Esports Insider said the signings had been reported by Dust2.us and HLTV on October 13.
Victor "Staehr" Staehr is now the only Dane in the active five. Esports Insider described it as the organization's first international lineup, ending an era in which Astralis won four Majors with an all-Danish roster.
New roles
According to HLTV, cmtry will give up the AWP and play as a rifler, with Love "phzy" Smidebrant keeping the sniper role. The Ukrainian had AWPed for NAVI Junior and FUT, and was moved to FUT's bench at the start of October to make room for Álvaro "SunPayus" García.
siuhy became a free agent on October 2 after a little over a year at Team Liquid, where he was the in-game leader. HLTV said Liquid struggled with early tournament exits and a lack of cohesion during his spell. Esports Insider noted that Astralis' announcement does not say whether he will lead the new team.
The roster is now:
- Love "phzy" Smidebrant
- Victor "Staehr" Staehr
- Gytis "ryu" Glušauskas
- Nikita "cmtry" Samolotov
- Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek
- Filip "NEO" Kubski (coach)
Major place and sticker cutoff
Astralis had already earned an invite to the PGL Singapore Major after the previous lineup won Stake Ranked Episode 4, beating Nemiga in the final, Esports Insider reported. Citing Dust2.us, it said the new players must play five matches before the Major invite cutoff to qualify for in-game stickers, with Stake Pulse Beat III and Stake Ranked Episode 5 listed as the opportunities to reach that mark.
The new lineup was scheduled to debut against Sashi in the Group C opener of Stake Pulse Beat III on October 14.
