Astralis got cadiaN in for the Fall Final on an emergency sub. Was it against the rules?

The Danish organization asked for an emergency substitution to get their new player in. But was it all above board?

Astralis completed the surprise signing of Casper "⁠cadiaN⁠" Møller on September 17, reuniting the Danish captain with his former HEROIC teammates Martin "⁠stavn⁠" Lund and Jakob "⁠jabbi⁠" Nygaard after the trio's unceremonious split at the end of 2023, and handing the 29-year-old the team's reins from Nicolai "⁠device⁠" Reedtz.

In theory, cadiaN's first event with Astralis would be IEM Rio, considering that the deadline for roster submissions for the Fall Final had already passed. But Astralis said when they unveiled cadiaN that the player's "first official matches with the Main team will take place at the BLAST Premier Fall Final," raising the level of hype for the team's campaign at the event.

cadiaN was not part of the roster submitted by Astralis or any other team attending the Fall Final, BLAST confirmed to HLTV. And, according to BLAST Premier's rulebook, "a team’s roster must be submitted to BLAST at least three (3) weeks prior to the applicable Tournament Stage."

The Fall Final starts on September 25, meaning the deadline was September 4, almost two weeks before cadiaN's signing was announced.

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So why is cadiaN allowed to play?

HLTV has learned that, shortly before Astralis unveiled cadiaN, BLAST sent an email to the teams attending the Fall Final informing them it had approved an emergency addition to Astralis' roster "due to a medical emergency" with one of the team's players.

No further details were provided, and Astralis' announcement made no mention that Alexander "⁠br0⁠" Bro, the player who made way for cadiaN, was dealing with any sort of health issues.

According to the tournament's rulebook, teams can apply for an emergency replacement after the roster deadline "due to issues such as illness, injury, and travel disruption," and "the acceptance or rejection of an emergency replacement will be decided by BLAST on a case by case basis in its sole discretion."

BLAST has never publicly stated that Astralis requested an emergency substitution for the event. But br0's agent, Fabian Broich, publicly said that his client was not dealing with health issues.

"As we represent br0, teams have reached out to me regarding his health or medical condition," Broich wrote on X. "He is fully fine. Obviously, [it's] unfortunate he got benched. Nevertheless, Alex is fully healthy and ready to perform. So feel free to keep reaching out."

In a previous post on X that same day, Broich had criticized Astralis for not paying his player enough respect. "Have at least some class and give Alex some mentions for the good services he did for you in the time being," he wrote. The following day, Astralis made a post on X thanking br0 for his service.

Contacted by HLTV, Broich declined to provide further comments on the matter.

The initial Astralis roster submitted for the event, HLTV learned, featured the team's full lineup at the time — including br0 — and head coach Casper "⁠ruggah⁠" Due. The Danish organization did not register any substitute players, though BLAST's rulebook states that "coaches may be used as an extra substitute if required."

In line with that rule, ruggah could replace br0 without the need for an emergency substitute. If that was the case, br0 could take the place of head coach and stand behind the team, as per the rulebook.

HLTV has spoken with representatives of three other teams attending the BLAST Fall Final. They all privately expressed doubt about the legitimacy of Astralis' request for an emergency substitution on the grounds of a medical emergency.

Contacted by HLTV, BLAST said that Astralis "requested an emergency substitution and, based on the information provided to us at the time, this was granted." According to the tournament organizer, the Danish team will be the lower-ranked team in all of its matches because of the emergency substitution — a standard procedure in such cases.

When asked if Astralis had provided evidence to support their claim of a medical emergency, BLAST simply said: "The medical substitute ruling used by Astralis here is in line with previous events. We will continue to monitor the wider rule after every event."

HLTV reached out to BLAST again for clarification on whether Astralis had provided documentation to support their request. BLAST responded, "Due to respecting and adhering to confidentiality we aren't able to disclose any further information here, unfortunately."

Contacted by HLTV, Astralis provided the following statement: "Procedures for emergency replacements as set forward by BLAST were followed. We have no further comment and it shouldn’t be necessary to educate a Danish-owned media company that we cannot discuss any individual employee."

The lack of transparency in this process is alarming as it opens the door to backroom deals to circumvent tournament rules.

In the past, BLAST has faced criticism for not enforcing its own rules. Ahead of the BLAST Fall Groups in 2022, Jaxon revealed that Evil Geniuses were given permission to replace Kévin "⁠misutaaa⁠" Rabier with Jadan "⁠HexT⁠" Postma on an emergency substitution after the French player's transfer from Vitality fell through. This despite the fact that EG had submitted William "⁠RUSH⁠" Wierzba as a substitute and Daniel "⁠Vorborg⁠" Vorborg as head coach.

BLAST said at the time that "there were a number of complexities around this request that sat outside some of the more typical reasons for an emergency roster change."

And in the lead-up to the BLAST Spring Groups in 2023, BLAST did a U-turn and prohibited FaZe from fielding Kristian "⁠k0nfig⁠" Wienecke as a stand-in for Håvard "⁠rain⁠" Nygaard after the move was met with resistance from other teams as the Danish player was originally listed as a substitute for HEROIC.

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BLAST acknowledges miscommunication in FaZe replacement situation

In the end, BLAST blamed "miscommunication and a lack in clarity" on its part for initially informing FaZe that k0nfig would be allowed to play.

The issue with cadiaN's registration for the Fall Final also goes beyond this event: a deep tournament run in Copenhagen could catapult Astralis in Valve's Regional Standings, which will be the sole method used for determining tournament invites from 2025.

Astralis will take on Vitality in their first match of the Fall Final.

Date	Matches
BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024
25/09/2024	Vitality 17:20 Astralis	Match