Astralis ended a seven-year title drought at Stake Ranked Episode 4, and instead of a quiet celebration the organization is now facing a roster problem. The reason isn’t form on the server – it’s paperwork. Several contracts are running out at almost the same time, and the talks between the org and the players have reportedly hit a wall.
Three contracts, one headache
Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard’s deal expires at the end of November, and Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen’s contract runs out just one month later. On top of that, Astralis could also lose Victor “Staehr” Staehr, who signed last year through 2027 – the exact expiration date of his deal isn’t publicly known.
That timing is the real danger. If the organization fails to reach an agreement with any of the three, it will need to make at least one roster move as soon as possible. Three changes in quick succession would hit Astralis in the VRS ecosystem, where they could effectively be starting from scratch – and that matters a lot for invites and seeding.
Staehr stays, the duo is on the chopping block
Staehr is considered the most important pillar of the project, so the plan is reportedly to replace jabbi and HooXi immediately rather than risk losing all three in a staggered sequence. For the in-game leader role, Astralis have Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek on their shortlist. The Polish IGL left Liquid’s bench just a few days ago and is said to be ready for a new challenge.
His signing would also be a symbolic moment. Astralis have always carried the Danish flag next to their name, and adding siuhy would mean another famous organization tightly bound to a single country would lose that national label for the first time in its history.
Why the timing is so bad
Astralis are very close to qualifying for the Major after their win at Stake Ranked Episode 4, which means any decision has to be made before the event rather than after it. That’s the worst possible moment for a rebuild – the squad that earned the points may not be the squad that plays.
- jabbi – contract expires at the end of November
- HooXi – contract expires roughly a month later
- Staehr – signed through 2027, exact end date unknown
- siuhy – free after leaving Liquid’s bench, on the shortlist as IGL
Where to go next
Astralis have been busy off the server too, as we covered in our piece on the Thibaut Courtois investment. If you want to see how other teams are handling their rebuilds, we also wrote about The MongolZ roster change, and all the latest transfers live in our Counter-Strike 2 news section.
FAQ
Not because of performance. The issue is expiring contracts – the organization’s negotiations with the players have reportedly stalled, so it has to act before the deals run out.
jabbi’s deal ends at the end of November and HooXi’s about a month later. Staehr signed a contract through 2027, but the exact expiration date hasn’t been made public.
Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek is on the shortlist for the in-game leader role. He recently left Liquid’s bench and is reportedly ready for a new challenge.
Making three roster moves in a short span could leave Astralis essentially starting from zero in the VRS ecosystem, which is why the org wants to limit the damage to as few changes as possible.
Yes. After winning Stake Ranked Episode 4 they are very close to qualifying, which is exactly why the roster situation has to be solved before the event.