While Astralis struggle, their academy team has never looked better

The young Danes recently achieved their highest-ever ranking following their win at CCT North Europe Series 4.

Astralis have struggled to match the expectations marked by the return of Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz to the lineup in October. The team has barely made an impact in tier-one Counter-Strike, with their only notable achievements being a title from CCT North Europe Series 3 online and a 4-6th placement at BLAST Spring Groups.

The Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander-led squad has shown little in terms of progress in their most recent outing at ESL Pro League Season 17, which ended in early elimination after a poor 17-20th placement after Astralis narrowly escaped last place in the group in an encounter with massive underdogs ATK.

Altekz has been the leading player for the Danes in the last three months

In stark contrast, Astralis Talent has recently claimed their highest position in the HLTV ranking at No. 35 spot following a series of wins in the online circuit. The junior squad achieved their feat after claiming the top step on the podium at CCT North Europe Series 4, beating the likes of GamerLegion, Copenhagen Flames, and SINNERS in the process — teams that have had significant success in online competitions this year.

Astralis came out victorious at the previous edition of the CCT tournament, but the fact that the academy side was able to replicate their achievement without household names such as device, gla1ve, and Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer shows the trajectory these two teams are currently in.

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Astralis Talent defeat GamerLegion to secure CCT North Europe Series 4 title

Astralis Talent's victory at CCT North Europe was just the first of three tournament wins in a week for Mathias "⁠R0nic⁠" Pinholt's team as they also claimed titles from the smaller SDTV Invitational Series 4 and POWER Ligaen Season 22 just a few days later.

The young Danes' fortunes have since turned for the worse in CCT Central Europe Series 5, where they sport a 1-2 record in the Swiss stage and have lost series to Illuminar and Young Ninjas. Other academy sides like MOUZ NXT and BIG Academy are also in attendance, so the event will prove as further testing ground and a place for Astralis Talent to show their continued progress.

Alexander "⁠Altekz⁠" Givskov has been the standout player for Astralis Talent over the last three months with an average 1.16 rating in all competitions, leading the line alongside Mikkel "⁠MistR⁠" Thomsen's 1.10 score. Alexander "⁠br0⁠" Bro has also impressed for the junior side since his arrival ahead of the 2023 season and has so far averaged 1.09 rating, but topped the charts at POWER Ligaen with a 1.46 rating over the four maps played.