gla1ve explains why Astralis’ six-man roster experiment failed

Astralis captain Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander has all but rejected the possibility of his team going back to a setup with backup players.

The Danish organization looked intent on challenging the status quo in the CS:GO scene in 2020 when it experimented with different lineups after gla1ve and Andreas ‘⁠Xyp9x⁠’ Højsleth took time off due to showing symptoms of burnout and exhaustion during the online era.

At one point, Astralis had seven players in their CS:GO lineup, and the goal was to continue to add to the roster until they had “a full 10-player setup with an academy team, like in the pro League of Legends leagues”, according to sports director Kasper Hvidt, a former handball professional player.

Those comments were met with skepticism in the CS:GO community, and justifiably so: Soon, it became clear that the team would stick to a traditional five-man lineup. Backup option Lucas ‘Bubzkji’ Andersen began falling further and further down the pecking order, initially brought in for Nuke games only, and then for no games at all.

Questioned about the change in strategy, gla1ve made no secret that he thinks working with extra players is detrimental to a team’s preparation.

“Yes, I think so,” he told Dexerto when asked if six-man lineups take away from preparation. “I don’t think six-man lineups are the best, not the way we are doing right now, with a 100% reserve.

“It needs to be a guy who doesn’t want to play as much, maybe [someone] who likes to sit and watch, and who can come up with other things to the team.

“I think a five-man lineup is the future of Astralis.”

Astralis currently have only five players in their CS:GO lineup following the departure of Bubzkji, who spoke to Dexerto in January about his struggles in the team and his future plans.

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The Danish team will be in attendance at IEM Katowice 2022, the next big event in the CS:GO calendar. The tournament will give Astralis a chance for redemption after an underwhelming run of results that stretches back to the end of the 2021 season.