Astralis have confirmed that Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen and Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard have been moved to the bench with immediate effect.
The announcement comes just two days after HLTV reported that the Danish organization was actively looking for replacements for the pair, who are entering the final months of their contracts.
"Sometimes you need to fully close a chapter in order to create space for something new to grow," Jonas Gundersen, the founder and CEO of Astralis' parent company, Fusion Esports, wrote on X.
"Astralis is one of the most successful brands in the history of Counter-Strike, championed by an iconic Danish roster that created memories for all our fans that will last a lifetime. A true legacy we will always be proud of. However, it is time to turn the page.
"As part of this move in a new direction, we have mutually decided that the Astralis journey from today onwards will continue without HooXi and jabbi, as their contracts expire at the end of the year.
"I want to express my sincere gratitude for their hard work and dedication to being part of the Astralis story, most recently helping secure our first LAN win since 2019."
Former Liquid IGL Kamil "siuhy" Szkaradek and FUT benched player Nikita "cmtry" Samolotov are understood to be close to joining Astralis. If the deals come to fruition, cmtry will give up the AWP and switch to rifling
jabbi has been with Astralis since November 2023, when he was recruited from HEROIC alongside Martin "stavn" Lund in a blockbuster deal. HooXi was signed in June 2025 after a stand-in period, picking up the mantle from Casper "cadiaN" Møller.
The Danish IGL led the team to the Stake Ranked Episode 4 title — Astralis' first LAN trophy since December 2019 — and to the grand final of three other LAN tournaments (PGL Astana 2025, FISSURE Playground 1 and PGL Bucharest 2026).
The title run in Barcelona lifted Astralis into the top 10 in the global VRS, leaving them virtually certain to qualify for the Singapore Major, according to HLTV's latest projections.
Astralis are expected to unveil their new players soon, with the team scheduled to play at Stake Pulse Beat III on October 12.
With the double benching, the team is now:
Love "phzy" Smidebrant
Victor "Staehr" Staehr
Gytis "ryu" Glušauskas
Filip "NEO" Kubski (coach)
Rasmus "HooXi" Nielsen (benched)
Jakob "jabbi" Nygaard (benched)
Gytis 'ryu' GlušauskasPast 3 months
Jakob 'jabbi' NygaardPast 3 months
Filip 'NEO' Kubski
HEROIC
Ludvig 'Brollan' Brolin
Linus 'nilo' Bergman
Tim 'susp' Ångström
Antonio 'MartinezSa' Martinez
Christoffer 'Chr1zN' Storgaard
Marco 'Snappi' Pfeiffer
Liquid
Keith 'NAF' Markovic
Jonathan 'EliGE' Jablonowski
Mario 'malbsMd' Samayoa
Johnny 'JT' Theodosiou
Georgi 'Jorko' Mitev
Viktor 'flashie' Tamás Bea
Victor 'Staehr' StaehrPast 3 months
Rasmus 'HooXi' NielsenPast 3 months
Martin 'stavn' LundPast 3 months
Nikita 'cmtry' SamolotovPast 3 months
Kamil 'siuhy' SzkaradekPast 3 months
Love 'phzy' SmidebrantPast 3 months
Casper 'cadiaN' MøllerPast 3 months
FUT
Álvaro 'SunPayus' García
Yasin 'xfl0ud' Koç
Dmytro 'dem0n' Myroshnychenko
Aulon 'Krabeni' Fazlija
Džiugas 'dziugss' Steponavičius
András 'coolio' Fercsák
Astralis
Rasmus 'HooXi' Nielsen
Love 'phzy' Smidebrant
Jakob 'jabbi' Nygaard
Victor 'Staehr' Staehr
Gytis 'ryu' Glušauskas
Filip 'NEO' Kubski