Astralis bench jabbi and HooXi ahead of Stake Pulse Beat III as the Danish CS2 team prepares for major roster changes.
On Saturday, October 10, Astralis announced the benching of Jakob “jabbi” Nygaard and Rasmus “HooXi” Nielsen as a part of a significant roster overhaul.
The benching of the two Danish players leaves Astralis’ Counter-Strike 2 division with just three active members just days before their next competitive endeavor at Stake Pulse Beat III.
The changes, however, are not unexpected as Astralis have been rumored to have been looking to freshen up their roster following a long stretch of underwhelming results.
“Sometimes you need to fully close a chapter in order to create space for something new to grow. Astralis is one of the most successful brands in the history of Counter-Strike, championed by an iconic Danish roster that created memories for all our fans that will last a lifetime. A true legacy we will always be proud of. However, it is time to turn the page,” read the announcement.
“As part of this move in a new direction, we have mutually decided that the Astralis journey from today onwards will continue without HooXi and jabbi, as their contracts expire at the end of the year.”
With those changes, HooXi’s journey with Astralis ends after two years, having joined the Danish team in June 2025 following a successful stand-in period as a temporary replacement for Casper “cadiaN” Møller.
During his stint with Astralis, the Danish in-game leader has helped the team to a few notable tournament runs, including silver medals from PGL Astana 2025 and FISSURE Playground #1, and PGL Bucharest 2026, and a third-place finish at ESL Pro League Season 23 earlier this year.
Jabbi has been with Astralis for longer, having signed his contract in November 2023, when he joined from HEROIC. During his stay with Astralis, the 23-year-old has averaged a 1.07 performance rating.
The duo’s last tournament with Astralis, Stake Ranked Episode 4 on October 4, ended with the team’s first LAN trophy since BLAST Pro Series: Global Final 2019, which helped Astralis break into the top 10 in the Valve Regional Standings (VRS), thus securing them a spot at the upcoming Singapore Major.
While Astralis have not announced their new roster, ex-FUT Esports player Nikita “cmtry” Samolotov and former Team Liquid in-game leader Kamil “siuhy” Szkaradek are expected to stand-in for the Danish team at Stake Pulse Beat III and are reportedly close to signing a contract.
If the deal comes through, Astralis will have only one Danish player – Victor “Staehr” Staehr – left on the active roster
Mark Prezelj
Esports Betting Analyst
Mark Prezelj is a Slovenian esports betting analyst with over 3,500 articles at EsportBet and the founder of Lines64.com — someone who has been reading odds longer than most readers have been watching esports.
