Legendary organization Astralis has announced the departure of head coach Casper “ruggah” Due, after the Counter-Strike roster failed to make it to Stage 3 at the IEM Cologne Major 2026. The former-OG coach joined in 2024, and helped Astralis move to an international squad from their Danish roots.
Highs and lows for Ruggah’s Astralis tenure
Ruggah’s tenure in Astralis was marred with a series of seismic changes in the roster, with three different IGLs taking leadership duties during that time. While the Nicolai “dev1ce” Reedtz and Casper “cadiaN” Møller both struggled to improve Astralis’ standing, the 2025 addition of Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen was a massive step-up for the roster.
That became especially true once the Danish IGL was able to harness the firepower of Swedish AWPer Love “phzy” Smidebrant, and Lithuanian rifler Gytis “ryu” Glušauskas. A top four finish at ESL Pro League S23 and finals at PGL Bucharest were both high-marks for the roster. Unfortunately, that form was fleeting, and the team quickly slipped back down, failingmake playoffs against the weaker field of IEM Atlanta 2026.
Related—FUT defeat Astralis to win first LAN at PGL Bucharest 2026
Any hopes to buck that trend were ill-founded, as Astralis were only able to overcome the struggling international roster of GamerLegion. The team then recorded losses to 9z, TYLOO and paiN, with none of the matches being particularly close.
Astralis quick to dispel HooXi rumors
The rumors of Ruggah’s removal first surfaced on Sebastien “KRL” Perez’s X account, with the French insider stating both ruggah and HooXi would be removed from the roster. While the Ruggah change came to fruition, the organization was also quick to comment on the rumors about the IGL, stating “Rumors regarding any other changes to the team are unsubstantiated.”
Related—Astralis captain HooXi steps away from social media after receiving death threats
Now heading into the off-season, Astralis will once again be looking for a new coach to take over the roster. Considering Astralis’s terrible T-side at the Major, with just 17% rounds won, the new coach will likely have his work cut out implementing a better overall system.
Astralis CS2 Roster
The Astralis CS2 Roster now is:
- Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen
- Love “phzy” Smidebrant
- Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard
- Victor “Staehr” Staehr
- Gytis “ryu” Glušauskas
- Max “MiGHTYMAX” Heath (assistant coach)
