Astralis have completed the signing of MAD Lions star rifler Lucas ‘Bubzkji’ Andersen as their newest player while also releasing substitute AWPer Jakob ‘JUGi’ Hansen.
Astralis are looking at rebuilding their Danish empire in CS:GO. Their original roster, which arguably became CS:GO’s most dominant dynasty in history, have filled up their trophy cabinet with a vast variety of crowns and trophies.
However, five players isn’t enough. Astralis picked up Patrick ‘es3tag’ Hansen as not just a sub, but a sixth member in March. Jakob ‘JUGi’ Hansen then became the seventh.
Now though, the former OpTic AWPer has found himself on the chopping block as Astralis raid MAD Lions.
Following reports that Astralis had reached out to MAD Lions to try to sign Bubzkji, the team has now confirmed that he is joining as their seventh member. The 22-year-old star has even signed a two-year deal with the Danish powerhouse.
In an accompanying move, JUGi, who had originally been their second substitute, is departing Astralis and becoming a free agent once again. The former Heroic, OpTic Gaming, and North AWPer admitted that he was “disappointed” by the move but respected the decision and wants to continue on playing.
As for Bubzkji, the rifler noted that after hearing of Astralis’ interest, his mind was made up and wanted the move. He revealed that other teams were interested but Astralis is where he wants to play.
Welcome @Bubzkji to the Astralis roster. We're looking forward to play with you.
Thank you for everything @JUGiOfficial #ToTheStars
— Astralis Counter-Strike (@AstralisCS) July 31, 2020
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Bubzkji’s future at MAD Lions had been widely speculated over the player break. There had been reports of Andersen being moved to the bench after the org told fans they were “reviewing our roster to position our team for continued success.”
The 22-year-old broke out onto the scene in 2019 under the wing of Nicolai ‘HUNDEN’ Petersen, first with Tricked and then after the lineup moved under the MAD Lions banner.
He has averaged a HLTV rating of over 1.10 for most of his time at MAD Lions, and is widely considered one of Denmark’s best talents.
Astralis has been vocal about their quest to build a 10-man roster in CS:GO. They intend on building an academy roster to back up their main one to not only help with practice on both ends, but also for ease of substituting players in and out if they take a break.
“Ultimately we would like to see across game titles a full 10 player set-up with an academy team like in the pro League of Legends leagues,” Director of Sports Kasper Hvidt told fans on June 2.
Astralis stars Lukas ‘gla1ve’ Rossander and Andreas ‘Xyp9x’ Hojsleth are both on break for the time being, with JUGi and previous stand-in Marco ‘Snappi’ Pfeiffer filling the void.
