Popular CS:GO organization Astralis has announced Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer as their replacement for star player Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Højsleth, following his surprise exit on May 27.
Astralis has revealed that they will be making yet another change to their roster after Gla1ve stepped down from the star-studded Danish lineup only a week prior, due to ongoing stress and burnout.
Following a report from DBLTAP, which revealed Xyp9x would also be taking a step back from competition, Astralis has now addressed the surprise moves, revealing how their roster will look for some of the upcoming tournaments.
In a statement on May 28, Astralis announced that they would be bringing in former Heroic player Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer in place of Xyp9x for future events.
Astralis’ director of Sports, Kasper Hvidt, shone some light on the latest change, explaining why yet another Astralis member is taking a break from competing.
"Andreas @Xyp9x is in the need of a pause from competing. The timing isn’t optimal, but we can't compromise when it comes to giving the players the best possibilities to maintain a healthy mental balance and to perform in the long term." – Kasper Hvidt, Director of Sports
— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) May 28, 2020
“Andreas is in the need of a pause from competing.” he shared, “the timing isn’t optimal, but we cannot compromise when it comes to giving the players the best possibilities to maintain a healthy mental balance and to perform in the long term.”
They also highlighted the new addition of Snappi to the lineup, for the time being, claiming that their 7-man roster was still being put together to allow players the time they needed off.
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“That’s the reason we have signed two additional players for the roster, however, as Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen will only join us in July, I am happy that Marco “Snappi” Pfeiffer has agreed to step in immediately.”
As Patrick @es3tag Hansen will only join the team in July, we are happy that Marco @SnappiCSGO Pfeiffer has agreed to step in immediately.#ToTheStars pic.twitter.com/zC3rqYqwgk
— Astralis (@astralisgg) May 28, 2020
Snappi has been known to be a strong in-game leader on many of his past teams and could be a strong voice for Astralis following the recent departure of two of their most experienced players.
Astralis also revealed that Snappi is already familiar with many of his fellow Danes, particularly his former teammate JUGi, who is one of the latest players to join the team after their 7-man roster reveal.
While it is still unclear how the roster will shape up throughout the summer, their current lineup still looks set to be a strong contender despite the absence of two of their core players.
New Astralis CS:GO roster
- Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz
- Jakob ‘JUGi’ Hansen
- Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer
- Emil ‘Magisk’ Reif
- Peter ‘dupreeh’ Rasmussen
- Danny ‘Zonic’ Sørensen (coach)