HUNDEN praised for new role by Astralis star despite community’s criticism

Nicolai “HUNDEN” Petersen returned to competitive CS:GO on Jan. 5 in a new head analyst role for Astralis. And despite massive community outrage following the move, the team’s in-game leader, Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander, has nothing but praise for the Dane.

The Astralis player spoke highly of HUNDEN and head coach Peter “casle” Toftbo Ardenskjold’s synergy when managing the squad. “HUNDEN and casle are a sharp duo, I personally have never had such a competent trainer/analyst team behind me,” gla1ve said in an interview with Pley.GG on Jan. 12.

Astralis revamped their CS:GO roster in the winter break, adding young talent Christian “Buzz” Andersen and veteran Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz. The latter made a return to Astralis after playing for Ninjas in Pyjamas and taking a break due to mental health issues.

Other additions include the promotion of casle to the main coach role and the signing of HUNDEN as the head analyst. The latter caused quite a stir in the community, which heavily criticized Astralis’ recent move.

In the past, HUNDEN was one of the coaches banned for abusing the coaching bug. After serving a ban, he rejoined Heroic, only to be banned again for leaking sensitive information to another team, reportedly Astralis. His second ban, however, also finished in December.

While the addition of HUNDEN seems to have divided Astralis’ fan base, it looks like the team won’t change their strategy going forward, judging by gla1ve’s words.