Astralis Announces CS:GO and LoL Lineups for Astralis Talent
Published: Dec 17, 2020 - Last Updated: May 30, 2024
Just a couple of days after announcing the creation of its development program called Astralis Talent, the Danish organization has revealed its CS:GO and League of Legends lineups. Heading into the future, Astralis will be focusing on the development of young talent on a never before seen scale in esports.
What is Astralis Talent?
Astralis Talent is a program by the organization that will help the development of young up-and-coming players aged from 14-20. The academy will go far beyond the normal call of duty, giving young players a full sports academy environment.
First announced in mid-November, Astralis Talent will enable up-and-coming players to access all the perks and amenities available to the organization’s professional players. Players will be located in the same facilities as the organization’s main teams while having access to the same staff and practice facilities, as well as relevant facilities for study and internal education.
“Astralis Talent is an investment in the future as a possible recruitment platform for our A teams, as well as inhouse training for all players. It is a way for us to secure an even better connection to the local ecosystem and over time, we hope to elevate players into our A teams.”, said Astralis CEO Anders Hørsholt.
While adding academy teams has been a long-lasting trend in the esports ecosystem, Astralis is one of the first teams that looks to elevate it to the level of professional sports teams.
The teams
Astralis is an organization best known for its CS:GO team. The organization itself has recently expanded into League of Legends, acquiring Origen’s LEC spot. With a strong presence in both esports titles, it comes as no surprise that the team will be focusing on those two games in the beginning.
CS:GO
As for CS:GO, the organization already announced that Dennis Vang would be joining as the head coach for Astralis Talent. He will also feature for the main team as an assistant for Danny “zonic” Sørensen.
Astralis Talent CS:GO Roster:
- In-Game Leader: Mathias “R0nic” Pinholt, 19
- AWP: Andreas “void” Dietrichsen, 17
- Rifler: Rasmus “zyph0n” Nordfoss, 16
- Rifler: Mads “vester” Vestergaard, 18
- Rifler: Victor “vigg0” Bisgaard, 21
- Rifler; Mikkel “MistR” Thomsen, 16, begins Summer 2021
All of the players on the roster have experience in the Danish regional scene, with in-game leader R0nic most notably playing for Team Singularity. MistR is projected to joining the squad in the summer of 2021.
Results won’t be expected from the get-go, as Astralis will focus on the overall growth of its players. Heading into the future, the plan will be to expand the organization’s main roster with players from its academy.
“Just like with the A-teams, we have patience, though, and the goal is not to win everything from the get-go but to gradually improve as an organisation, team and individual players. We will most likely not develop player for the A-team the first 12 months, but we will improve and develop the methods, the teams, the culture and each player so we can achieve long term goals for both the organization but also the individual players”, added Kasper Hvidt, Director of Sport.
League of Legends
Astralis also announced that the duo of Mikkel “Donby” Donby and Anders “Kronos” Schultz would serving as the LoL team’s head and assistant coaches respectively. Donby is best known for coaching Norwegian organization Nordavind, while Kronos spent the most of his career playing as a jungle in the Nordic regional scene before switching to a coaching role with Invulnerables Esports.
Astralis Talent League of Legends Roster:
- TOP : Carl ”Carlsen” Carlsen, 15
- JUNGLE : Mikkel “Mixsi” Bay-Schmidt, 16
- MID : Mikkel “Rylle” Rylander Christiansen, 19
- ADC : Kasper ”Kadaver” Müller Nielsen, 19
- SUPPORT : Benjamin ”RotteBengi” Mahler Jørgensen, 18
With Astralis’ League of Legends still being in its infancy, only time will tell if the academy players will be able to move up to the main roster. In comparison to the organization’s CS:GO team, which has cemented itself as one of the best in the game’s entire history, Astralis’ League of Legends team definitely has a lot to prove heading into the future.
Read More: Check Out The Latest League of Legends Odds
