Astralis have benched AWPer Philip “Lucky” Ewald, replacing him with Asger “farlig” Jensen. The change comes after the Danish team were eliminated from Intel Extreme Masters Katowice just ahead of the playoffs stage.
“Farlig possesses many of the qualities we need on the team: He is an aggressive impact player who’s not afraid to take on the fight and take initiative,” Kasper Hvidt, director of sports at Astralis, said in a press release. “He creates space for his teammates, while at the same time contributing to the team dynamics by being the person he is.”
Hvidt acknowledged the recent problems that Astralis have faced as they have struggled to find impact since bringing in Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke and Benjamin “blameF” Bremer to complete their lineup. Hvidt expects farlig to bring much-needed firepower from the outset and help Astralis “take the next important steps.”
🇬🇧 He is dangerous.
🇩🇰 Han er farlig.Welcome @farligcs to the #AstralisFamily.
Read: https://t.co/bCbnmqLg6i pic.twitter.com/F7c3B3rtPg— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) February 22, 2022
“I am really looking forward to being able to call myself an Astralis player and I will do everything to prove I am the right choice,” farlig said. “I know, I will need to deliver relatively quickly so that we can get this team up where we belong, and even though everyone is preaching “patience,” I just want to get started and help the team prove itself.”
Farlig has played on notable rosters such as Copenhagen Flames, GODSENT and, most recently, FunPlus Phoenix. Over the past year, he has averaged a 1.07 rating according to HLTV.
Farlig commented that he had been in contact with a number of other teams over the past weekend. He declined their offers when Astralis came to him with a serious proposition. Things moved quickly and farlig signed a contract, citing the dream of many Danish players who want nothing more than to play with Astralis, one of the most successful orgs in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s history.
As for Lucky, the young AWPer spoke positively about his experience with the Danish org. He joined Astralis at a tumultuous time in August of 2021, as the org was in the midst of an exodus of its major-winning core. Only Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth now remain from the original roster. He was critical of his own play, as the 19-year-old Dane never fully found his footing.
“I sadly never found myself or my flow in-game,” the younger AWPer said in a TwitLonger. “Which is SO annoying, cause I know I can do so much more than what I have shown.”
****Benched from Astralis
Read: https://t.co/DVjRVjW7fL
— Philip Ewald (@Luckyv1CSGO) February 22, 2022
Astralis are expected to debut their new roster at ESL Pro League Season 15, which begins March 9.
Astralis’ new roster is as follows:
- Luke “gla1ve” Rossander
- Benjamin “blameF” Bremer
- Kristian “k0nfig” Wienecke
- Andreas “Xyp9x” Højsleth
- Asger “farlig” Jensen
