Astralis CS:GO In-Game Leader “gla1ve” Set to Return

Having taken four months away from the CS:GO scene, Astralis in-game leader Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander has announced that he will now make a return to the team. His recent hiatus was put down to issues surrounding stress and burnout, however fans will be pleased to hear that he will be part of the Danish team’s roster for the ESL Pro League Season 12.

Jakob “JUGi” Hansen took over from gla1ve for the remainder of the previous campaign, however with Rossander now becoming active once more, it will be Patrick “es3tag” Hansen who missed out for a place on the Astralis roster for the ESL One Cologne.
The roster changes will perhaps be a little harsh on es3tag, who has put in some good performances for Astralis of late, with the Danish organisation having already stated that the 24-year-old will observe and analysis matches in order to aid their development.

What Will the Return of “gla1ve” Bring to Astralis?

Astralis are under no elusions that the return of gla1ve after a four month break will be easy, however the 25-year-old has reportedly enjoyed some good practices in preparation, stating on his Twitter page that: ‘I’m really excited to get back on the server. It’s hard to say where my level will be against a top team like Complexity right now, but I’ve had some really good practice sessions with the team lately. Integrating the two new players have gone well, and I’m looking forward to playing with my old teammates, as well as with ‘Bubzkji’ and ‘es3tag’, they’ve both performed really well already.”

Astralis Head Coach Danny “zonic” Sorenson is also understandably happy to work with gla1ve once again, however the former CS:GO pro admitted that effectively benching es3tag was a difficult decision to make. All Astralis players will get some game time over the coming months, however the return of gla1ve is something that will excite fans in the CS:GO community more than most, with the in-game leader having helped his team in winning the Intel Extreme Masters XIII – Katowice Major 2019, ESL Pro League Season 8 – Finals, StarLadder Berlin Major 2019 and BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019 before taking a break last year.

Gla1ve has amassed career earnings of over $1.5 million to date, having first joined Astralis back in 2016. He famously played for CPH Wolves in the semi-finals at Assembly Winter 2016 against ENCE eSports just hours after suffering from a collapsed lung, demonstrating just how motivated he is to achieve everything within CS:GO. Astralis are currently 11th in the world rankings, some 60 points behind European rivals Fnatic.