Astralis bench coach ‘trace’ amid CS:GO roster shuffle

Following a disappointing Major qualifier, Astralis have begun their CS:GO roster shuffle starting with k0nfig and coach trace.

With k0nfig released from the team and coach Martin “trace” Heldt benched, Astralis is in a state of limbo. Announcing both moves on Twitter, the Astralis organization reportedly wants to take the team in a new direction moving forward. Stating that recent results are far from what they expect, the team will go through “organizational changes and upgrades” in the coming weeks.

This leaves the active Astralis roster with no coach and just four full-time members ahead of BLAST Premier. In a blog post on Astralis’ website, CEO Anders Hørsholt shed more light on the situation.

Also read: “These last weeks have been the hardest time of my life” – k0nfig leaves Astralis CS:GO roster

Astralis head coach benched after CS:GO Major qualifier exit

Martin @astralistrace Heldt has been benched with immediate effect with more organizational changes and upgrades to come on and around the team.

We want to thank Martin for his contributions as coach and wish him the best of luck in the future.https://t.co/keiaxvdeCp pic.twitter.com/RoRR2uM6UI

— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) October 12, 2022

In a brief statement on Twitter, Astralis shared that trace would no longer be in charge of the main team. With more changes on the way, the Danish organization hopes to bring back some of the prestige the Astralis name holds. In the blog post CEO Anders Hørsholt mentions:

“In the coming weeks and months, we will work on modernizing and developing the organization around the Counter-Strike team, where our Director of Sports will be looking at all current and potentially new roles and needed upgrades on and around the team.”

Stating that being the best of all time is an obligation for them, Astralis is willing to do what’s necessary to get back there. After breaking records in 2018-2019, the team entered a slump and eventually split up, leaving just gla1ve and Xyp9x from the major-winning squad. The team was later rebuilt with many stand-ins and shuffling players, but success wasn’t found. After adding BlameF and k0nfig, the team seemed set to reclaim their glory. Unfortunately, multiple setbacks and poor performances led to this falling apart as well.

With k0nfig now released and the role of head coach open, the team is heading in a new direction. As of now, it is unknown if the team will retain its four other players. Farlig, gla1ve, Xyp9x, and BlameF currently make up the full-time roster with Mistr standing in for next week’s Blast Premier. With just one week to go, fans can expect a few more announcements ahead of the event.