Astralis backs CS:GO coach with new contract as rebuild continues

After more than two months with Peter “casle” Ardenskjold as the interim head coach of Astralis’ CS:GO team, the Dane was named a permanent coach today.

Casle is a talented coach with experience in building teams from the ground up, according to a press release from Astralis. “Peter, who, in addition to being an excellent coaching talent, is extremely strong in building the structure of a team,” Kasper Hvidt, Astralis’ director of sports said.

Casle took over from Martin “trace” Heldt on Oct. 12 shortly after the team finished 12th to 14th place in the European RMR A for IEM Rio Major, which saw Astralis as an organization miss its first Major in history. Since then, the squad has been under reconstruction, and casle’s advancement to the main coach role is a part of that.

Another crucial part of Astralis’ roster changes was the return of Nicolai “device” Reedtz, who joined the team on Oct. 27. The 27-year-old returned from an almost year-long hiatus due to mental health issues. Device replaced Asger “farlig” Jensen, who was benched from the team.

Since the addition of device, Astralis haven’t seen much success. Their lackluster performances also led to them failing to qualify for IEM Katowice 2023. Nevertheless, casle says his aim as a coach is to bring Astralis back to being one of the world’s best teams. “We have one single goal: To prove that we belong at the very top of Counter-Strike,” he said.