dev1ce confirms when gla1ve and Xyp9x will return for Astralis

It’s been the question on every Astralis fan’s lips ⁠— when will gla1ve and Xyp9x return? After weeks of speculation, veteran AWPer Nicolai ‘dev1ce’ Reedtz has finally put the rumors to rest on when his team mates should be lining up again.

Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander and Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Hojsleth took a step back from Counter-Strike at the end of May due to “burnout and stress.”

In the weeks since, the practices behind closed doors at Astralis have come under criticizing from some. However, most fans of the four-time Major winners have been wondering when they’ll see their stars back together again.

The organization has been tight lipped about when the two will eventually return, citing anywhere from three months to the end of the year. However, dev1ce has said that we can expect one of them, at least, to return soon.

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Speaking on the HLTV Confirmed podcast, the star AWPer said that gla1ve will be making his return in a couple of months. But, in terms of Xyp9x, there’s no set date.

“Gla1ve’s return is planned for August. Xyp9x’s return is not planned. That’s all I can say. I don’t know when in August gla1ve will return, but it’s in August,” he said.

He did say the date needed to be taken with a grain of salt though. Everything is tentative, and dev1ce didn’t want to put any undue pressure on his teammates to return too soon.

“It’s hard sometimes, with these situations, because a date can put even more stress on the matter. You actually want to handle the situation and then slowly put people into things again.”

He referenced his own experience back in 2017, where dev1ce missed several events after IEM Oakland due to illness.

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“For my own point of view, I kind of got thrown into things again, and it’s an issue you have to be really careful with, because you can pressure people too hard again, and then you’ll have an even harder time coming back.”

Astralis, as an organization, has made it clear that in the future they want to build a 10-man squad. They’ve already signed former North player JUGi and Heroic’s es3tag to start the foundations, and are on the lookout for more players.

However, their motives have been called into question, with sources behind closed doors criticizing the way Astralis’ management has handled player burnout in the last 12 months.