Patrick “es3tag” Hansen and Lukas “Bubzkji” Andersen will officially debut for Astralis at ESL One Cologne Europe, one of the most prestigious CS:GO events of the year, Astralis confirmed today.
The duo will play with three of Astralis’ core players—device, dupreeh, and Magisk. Astralis also confirmed earlier today that Magisk is the team’s in-game leader for the event during gla1ve’s absence. Gla1ve and Xyp9x have been out on medical leave since May due to feeling symptoms related to burnout.
Es3tag joined Astralis on a free transfer from Heroic, another Danish team, on July 1 after his contract with Heroic expired. Es3tag will play in his first tournament since March after he spent the final months of his contract with Heroic on the bench.
Bubzkji, on the other hand, hasn’t played an official match since the end of June. He officially joined Astralis for an undisclosed fee on July 31 from MAD Lions. Bubzkji was reportedly moved to the bench before the player break, despite being one of MAD Lions’ best players. The 22-year-old helped MAD Lions win Flashpoint season one in April and has a 1.13 average rating in 2020, according to HLTV stats.
The announcement of Astralis’ starting lineup for ESL One Cologne Europe comes one week after gla1ve said he wouldn’t play in the tournament, despite being eager to make a return. Neither Xyp9x nor Astralis have said anything publicly since the rifler stepped away from competition, though.
Astralis have been placed in ESL One Cologne Europe’s Group B alongside teams like Vitality, G2, FaZe, Fnatic, and MIBR. The Danish powerhouse will face Fnatic in the opening round next week on Tuesday, Aug. 18 at 11:30am CT.
Published: Aug 13, 2020 08:15 am