k0nfig and Astralis part ways

The player and organization came to a mutual agreement to cut ties following the injury that Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke has now confirmed came as a result of an altercation in Malta.

Astralis and k0nfig have agreed to cancel the player's contract due to "personal circumstances," the organization has announced.

The move comes shortly following the Danish team's unsuccessful exit from the European Regional Major Ranking event, where they played without k0nfig after he suffered a complicated ankle fracture, causing the organization to miss out on a spot at a Major for the first time since it entered CS:GO in 2016.

The circumstances of the injury were a target of several reports from Jaxon, which claimed that k0nfig got into an altercation with a bar representative in Malta during the team's stay there following their ESL Pro League Season 16 campaign.

For the first time since saying the rumors are "mostly BS," the 25-year-old has spoken out about the incident in a lengthy, emotional Twitlonger post to share his side of the story.

In it, k0nfig claims that a nightclub promoter got "aggressive" with him, spat in his face, and kicked him in the face. k0nfig pursued the promoter once he saw him again shortly after to confront him, which led to a fight in which the promoter allegedly broke the Astralis rifler's leg and repeatedly kicked him in the head.

The 25-year-old expressed his regret over confronting the promoter in anger in the second incident, saying "no one else is responsible for where I am today but myself."

k0nfig went on to shed more light on his medical condition, sharing he has now undergone two surgeries to address the complicated fracture, before talking about his future.

"The entire time i was hospitalized thoughts has been in my mind. Is this the time to end my career? Is this it for me? But this is nowhere near the end for me. I’m going to war against myself now. Fuck no I’m not going anywhere," k0nfig said.

"I’ll make this downfall into something positive. This is not who I am. I don’t give up. I’ll do what's needed to become the god-tier counterstrike player that I know I can be. I will take this time to work on the things that needs to be worked on. I will do everything in my power to come back. My mental health might have gotten hit but it’s not going to take me down. I’ll take this time to recover both physically and mentally. This is definitely the hardest period in my life and I’m accepting it."

The future of Astralis' lineup remains unclear. The organization has stated that Mikkel "⁠MistR⁠" Thomsen will step in for the team again during their campaign at the BLAST Premier Fall Showdown (October 19-23) after he substituted for k0nfig at the IEM Rio Major qualifier in Malta.

The Danish powerhouse has recently been linked by Jaxon with the possible return of Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz, who has been sitting on Ninjas in Pyjamas' bench for nearly a year, initially citing mental health issues as the reason for stepping down.