Astralis officially announced that Magisk has returned to the team and stavn has temporarily left the active lineup.
The legendary rifler will officially take over stavn 's position, who has temporarily withdrawn from the team due to "personal circumstances".
The transfer marks Magisk 's reunion with his former club, where he played for nearly four years from 2018 to the end of 2021, and where he won three Major championships and numerous honors.
The official announcement comes amidst a turbulent period for Astralis : Reports surfaced in late April that the organization was seeking a takeover, and subsequent public financial reports confirmed the legendary organization was facing operational difficulties. This financial crisis was exposed against the backdrop of the team's continued poor performance. Despite significant investment, repeated failure to qualify for Majors has become a critical issue.
Since the addition of former G2 leader HooXi , Astralis 's performance has improved significantly. The 30-year-old captain led the team to second place at PGL Astana and FISSURE 1, significantly increasing their VRS points and increasing their chances of qualifying for the next StarLadder Budapest Major.
However, their performance has declined in recent weeks: Astralis was eliminated in a tie for last place at both IEM Cologne and the eSports World Cup.
Magisk 's arrival will at least temporarily replace stavn . stavn joined Astralis in late 2023 alongside Jabbi in a blockbuster transfer deal that cost a combined $1.5-2 million, according to Striker on the HLTV Tea Party podcast. The four-time HLTV Top 20 player failed to live up to his reputation as a star rifler, often missing from crucial playoff games and earning a mediocre 1.06 rating during his time with the team.
After HooXi took over Astralis , he immediately made role adjustments, replacing stavn from the "star position" and giving Staehr more responsibilities.
Magisk returns to Astralis after nearly two years with Falcons . He was benched during the recent player break to make room for young rising star kyousuke .
The Danish player joined the Falcons during a roster shakeup at the end of 2023, when the team introduced the ENCE core lineup led by Snappi . However, the lineup failed to achieve breakthrough results in 2024 , prompting the team to restructure again at the end of the year.
With the addition of NiKo , Falcons ' performance improved significantly, leading to their first championship at the PGL Bucharest. To further build their all-star roster, the team also added m0NESY .
Astralis ' current roster is as follows:
Nicolai Reedtz | device
Victor Staehr | Staehr
Jakob Nygaard | Jabbi
Rasmus Nielsen | HooXi
Emil Reif | Magisk
Casper Due | ruggah (coach)
Martin Lund | stavn ( benched )
Casper Møller | cadiaN ( benched )
After being demoted from the team, stavn posted:
"I have expressed to the team and Astralis that I need to rest. Health always comes first, and this is a decision I have to make. I will be taking some time off to deal with some personal matters.
During this time, I will continue to cheer for my brothers and focus on adjusting myself and waiting for the right time to return to the court."
After returning to Team A, Magisk said:
" Astralis means so much to me, and I'm thrilled to be back and helping them. It will be a huge honor to wear the star-studded jersey again, and I'm incredibly motivated to fight alongside my teammates.
Finally, my thoughts are with stavn , may he get the time he needs to adjust.”
Astralis legendary player dupreeh also joked online:
" gla1ve , Xyp9x , zonic , why the hell weren't we invited back?"