Astralis refreshes Counter-Strike 2 team with two new signings

Danish esports organisation Astralis has revealed a few changes that will affect its Counter-Strike 2 roster. The team has decided to move away from its traditionally all-Danish line-up to welcome two new stars from Sweden and Lithuania.

Ahead of BLAST Bounty 2026 Season 1, the team has brought in both Love "phzy" Smidebrant and Gytis "ryu" Glušauskas, to join the wider team and hopefully help it progress up the CS2 world rankings, snagging some trophies along the way.

As for why these two were signed by Astralis, CEO Jonas Gundersen has stated: "They are players we believe fit very well into what we are building. In addition to being strong players, they bring new energy to the team, and they are players who can immediately adapt to the style of play we want to implement, together with the coach and our in-game leader."

Gundersen also notes that these signings signify changes to Astralis' future setup, which will "move a bit faster and be a bit more fun to be part of—and to watch."

These two will join Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen, Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard, and Victor "Staehr" Staehr on Astralis' main roster for BLAST Bounty when that kicks off on January 12.