Astralis release ‘Behind The Stars’ documentary

The first season takes viewers inside the team's hectic tournament season during the first half of 2023.

Described by Astralis as an “unfiltered story,” the documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look as the Danish organization and the team work to return to the top of the Counter-Strike scene after a titleless three years.

‘Behind The Stars’ begins with a meeting on January 2 in which staff and players share their goals and expectations for 2023. Less than two weeks earlier, the Danish organization had signed Christian "⁠Buzz⁠" Andersen from MASONIC to fill the spot created by Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke’s dismissal.

"To me, Astralis is like a bear that has been sleeping all winter but is now waking up," said then Director of Sports Kasper Hvidt, adding that he aimed for the team to break into the top 3 that year.

Fast forward three months, and Astralis failed to qualify for the BLAST.tv Paris Major — one of their main targets for 2023 — after crashing out of the European RMR with a 1-3 record.

As results continued to fall short of expectations and pressure mounted, Lukas "⁠gla1ve⁠" Rossander and Andreas "⁠Xyp9x⁠" Højsleth opened up about having to deal with the constant threat of being kicked from the team. The veteran captain even revealed that he had been told in March that he would be removed if he didn’t step up his game.

In a team meeting before the final stretch of the season, the mood was somber. “I feel some doubt about whether or not we're good enough,” Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz said.

In April, Astralis pulled the trigger on a roster change, promoting academy player Alexander "⁠Altekz⁠" Givskov to replace Xyp9x. And halfway through the team’s U.S. trip for IEM Dallas and the BLAST Premier Spring Final, HLTV reported that the Danish organization once again had its sights on Victor "⁠Staehr⁠" Staehr, with players and coach Peter "⁠casle⁠" Ardenskjold admitting that the story added to an already uneasy situation.

In a phone conversation with his girlfriend after the elimination in Washington, gla1ve admitted that players were left fearing for their jobs. He and Xyp9x ended up on the chopping block as Astralis signed Staehr from Sprout and free agent Johannes "⁠b0RUP⁠" Borup. Significant changes were also made to the backroom staff as Hvidt and Head Analyst Nicolai "⁠HUNDEN⁠" Petersen were let go.

The final episode of the documentary is centered on those changes and the new direction that the team wants to take. Benjamin "⁠blameF⁠" Bremer, who took over as in-game leader, noted that the team hadn’t improved “in the slightest” in two years despite making countless roster changes. "We recruited new players just to play the exact same way as before,” he is seen saying to his teammates. “All the new players simply took over from the previous players.”

You can watch ‘Behind The Stars’ by heading over to Astralis’ YouTube channel, with the first episode embedded below. According to Astralis, this is only the debut season of the documentary, which means that more episodes are expected to be released in the future.

The documentary comes out two days before Astralis play their first match at the BLAST Premier Fall Final, in Copenhagen. And just like six months ago, the team finds itself in turmoil, amid reports of Astralis' interest in the Heroic duo of Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund and Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard.

HLTV reported on November 14 that Astralis are close to signing the Danish pair, though they aren't able to play for the team just yet. They could make their debut at BetBoom Dacha, a $300,000 tournament scheduled for December 5-10 in Dubai.