Xyp9x Will Return To CS:GO On November 2: Predictions On The Future Of Astralis
On May 28, 2020, Andreas “Xyp9x” Hojsleth stepped away from his keyboard to focus on himself for a while. Besides being the frontman clutch master for his team, he’s also the Co-CEO of Astralis. With a lot on his plate, Xyp9x felt it was time for a mental vacation - a time where he could rest and understand his position on the team. Being a crucial piece of the puzzle, Astralis started to struggle, resulting in a landslide from their number one spot. Due to this, Xyp9x stepped up to the plate and announced his return for November 2 of this year. His support skills will be seen in action against MiBR at the BLAST Premier: Fall Regular Season. Hopefully, that time off allowed him to freshen up for his following matches 2020.
XYP9X IS BACK
Despite earning more than others in a couple of events, Xyp9x didn’t like his start to 2020, feeling that his personal issues were getting in the way of his performance. His first season was at BLAST Premier: Spring where Astralis placed nearly dead last. This was expected, considering Astralis placed last in their entry events of both 2018 and 2019. Xyp9x helped his team place in the top three across two S-Tier events, winning his first in the A-Tier division. DreamHack Masters Spring was the final straw for Xyp9x, where he virtually placed last once again. Besides finishing first at ESL One: Road to Rio - it was time for a break.
Xyp9x performed at an average pace compared to his teammates. Dropping between 0.92 and 1.17 player ratings and not once hitting 1.20 or higher - not the same ratings he received in 2019 where he produced numbers up 1.30. Compared to his 2019 season, his player rating dropped by -1.0, a huge decrease for such a strong player. Xyp9x played his best against G2 at ESL One: Road to Rio. G2 placed second and was considered one of the stronger participants. Xyp9x scored between 1.25 and 1.35, resulting in a consistent gameplay for someone who was already burned out.
Astralis has the upper hand in their first set at BLAST Premier against MiBR, a team that has a twenty-eight percent win rate compared to Astralis who has peaked at first in 2020 - averaging a seventy-seven percent win rate and now have Xyp9x on their main roster. After facing MiBR, Astralis will either compete against G2 or FURIA. Xyp9x has won five out of seven matches against G2 in 2020 with a 1.20 player rating. Doing his best on Vertigo and Nuke with no player highlights - an anticipated performance for the support player. FURIA will be the biggest challenge after crushing it in North America and peaking at third place mid-October.
The start to BLAST Premier looks promising for a comeback from Xyp9x; an opportunity to finish off strong with Astralis and warm up for 2021. He put up a fight at the start of his current season, considering he was extremely tired from practice and tournaments. So far, Astralis is looking strong, but the topic of where Lucas "Bubzkji" Andersen stands is intriguing.
Click to enlargeMAIN ROSTER MADNESS
Bubzkji joined the team back in late July of this year. He’s only played four sets with the team and has a lot to learn. Alongside Astralis Bubzkji placed seventh at ESL One: Cologne. He proceeded with a 1.0 player rating and everything went downhill after his debut match. Bubzkji wasn’t deserving of a main roster position. Now playing for Cloud 9, es3tag was originally putting in work for Astralis, despite being seen as a better choice compared to Bubzkji, es3tag had a 1.0 player rating in his debut with Astralis - the exact same performance that Bubzkji had at ESL One: Cologne.
With all the roster changes Astralis has recently faced, 2020 has been their lowest-earning year so far excluding the cancelled major. In August, the team dipped to seventeenth place which is their lowest spot in the orgs history - Astralis hasn’t dropped this low since mid-2016. The team will have a chance to pick things up with Xyp9x in November with three hundred grand in possible tournament earnings including IEM Beijing-Haidian. One of the biggest events of the year with a six-figure prize pool.
EXPECTED RESULTS
With money on the line and the return of Xyp9x, Astralis is once again looking like a dominant team. Bubzkji will sit on the bench leaving a spot for the clutch legend. Their match against MiBR should be an easy sweep while G2 will most likely put up a better fight. The only real challenge at their BLAST event should be FURIA. After that, Heroic and NAVI will fight to shutdown Astralis resulting in some interesting matches. Xyp9x can be expected to drop a consistent 1.20 player rating against G2 and help his team take home another first-place finish.
Images via Liquipedia | Astralis
