Astralis CS2 signs cadiaN despite “controversial” past with new teammates

CS2 star Casper ‘cadiaN’ Møller has signed with Astralis in a move that even the player himself admits could be seen as controversial thanks to his previous relationship with two players, Martin ‘⁠stavn’ Lund and Jakob ‘jabbi⁠’ Nygaard, on the Danish roster.

The three players were playing under HEROIC less than a year ago before they left the organization due to a falling out between the two young guns and cadiaN.

The situation played out publicly in late 2023, as HEROIC wanted to re-sign stavn and jabbi to longer contracts following some success with the team. However, the two issued an ultimatum to the organization for their signatures: Kick cadiaN or we don’t come back, according to the company.

HEROIC eventually benched the two players as they went on to sign with rival Danish team Astralis. cadiaN left for Team Liquid soon after.

After some middling results with TL, the North American organization benched the veteran Counter-Strike player in June 2024. Astralis announced it signed cadiaN on September 17, and the player addressed the “controversial” move in a press release.

“I know some fans may feel I’ve had ‘beef’ with Astralis, but actually, I’ve faced similarly fierce rivalries with other teams and players too… This reunion with jabbi and stavn is, of course, exciting for all of us. We’ve addressed the challenges we faced in the past, and today we’re fully aligned,” he said.

“After a year of reflection, we’re still hungry for trophies and continue to share the same tactical vision that drove our success before.”

Astralis is far from its glory days in CS:GO as the Danish team has struggled to make a dent in major tournament play in CS2. With jabbi and stavn, the team failed to make the PGL Major Copenhagen, and their best achievement so far is placing top four at IEM Chengdu.

Astralis is hoping to recreate the magic behind HEROIC’s early 2023 run that saw cadiaN, jabbi, and stavn place top four at the Paris Major, IEM Dallas, and Gamers8.