Astralis finalize CS2 roster with ryu and phzy

Astralis complete their 2026 CS2 roster with ryu and phzy, debuting an international lineup with English comms as they gear up for BLAST Bounty Winter.

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by Jur Dava

January 9, 2026 0

On Thursday, January 8, Astralis announced the signings of Gytis “ryu” Glušauskas and Love “phzy” Smidebrant as the final missing pieces of the 2026 Counter-Strike 2 roster.

The arrival of ryu and phzy is a historic move for Astralis, who have officially transitioned to an international roster for the first time in the Danish team’s history.

Today, we announce two new players to the team.

Welcome @phzycs and @ryucsgo1 😍 pic.twitter.com/O3KDMbnwpi
— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) January 8, 2026

While Astralis decided to keep their Danish core of Victor “Staehr” Staehr, Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard, and Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen, Astralis will now transition to English communication for the upcoming season.

The duo replaces recently departed Emil “Magisk” Reif and Nicolai “device” Reedtz, who has since joined 100 Thieves.

“Now we are entering the next phase with the team, and the signings of phzy and ryu should be seen in that context,” said Astralis CEO Jonas Gundersen.

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“These are our first international signings, and 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.”

Ryu joins Astralis from Monte, whom he played for since late 2023. While he hasn’t managed to win any major events under Monte, the 21-year-old has made a name for himself as one of Monte’s top players, averaging a 1.13 performance rating during his two-year stay.

His new teammate, phzy, joins Astralis after spending the last season playing for Wildcard and 9INE, helping the former qualify for BLAST.tv Ausin Major.

Much like ryu, phzy has not found any success in bigger events with his former teams, but has performed admirably well individually, posting a 1.15 performance rating.

The duo now finalizes Astralis’s 2026 CS2 roster, which is set to debut at BLAST Bounty Winter, scheduled to begin on January 12.