For the final five years of CS:GO, Danish players were the undisputed kings of Counter-Strike. Now, the Danish CS scene may well be dead.
Nicolai “device” Reedtz, Emil “Magisk” Reif, Peter “dupreeh” Rasmussen, and Andreas “Xyp9x” Hojsleth were four elite players in their respective roles, and Lukas “gla1ve” Rossander and Danny “zonic” Sorensen formed a leadership duo that would write them both into legend. Four Majors and an Intel Grand Slam later, Astralis became regarded as the greatest and most dominant team of all time.
Even as the Astralis dynasty fell, they were quickly replaced by HEROIC, a team that may not have won much, but still stood tall as one of the most elite teams in the world.
Fast-forward a couple of years, and Danish CS is on its knees. HEROIC fell apart due to one of the most controversial roster implosions of all time, and for the second year in a row having always been a feature on the list before that, there are no Danish players in the HLTV top 20 for 2025.
4 Time Major Champion
2 Time Major MVP
A legacy to build a new dynasty. pic.twitter.com/TwreoQXaMT
— 100 Thieves Roobet Counter-Strike (@100T_CS) January 6, 2026
To top it all off, Astralis, the team so Danish they even have a glorified LAN cafe in a prime location in Copenhagen, are now going international to combat the lack of talent within the nation.
And that, after years of steady decline, is the final nail in the coffin for Danish Counter-Strike.
Following FURIA
In an attempt to once again become competitive after a disappointing StarLadder Budapest Major campaign, Astralis are, for the first time, looking outside of Denmark for permanent players.
Arriving at the organization is Love “phzy” Smidebrant and Gytis “ryu” Glusauskas. One is an experienced Swedish AWPer with experience all around the world, the other is a young and impactful rifler primed for a step up to tier one after a breakout year with Monte in 2025.
It’s a similar model to the one used by FURIA when they signed Mareks “YEKINDAR” Galinskis and Danil “molodoy” Golubenko. By importing two players from outside a nation, a team can still retain its national flag, keeping both fans and sponsors happy, while also tapping into a far greater talent pool than it would otherwise be limited to.
That model allowed FURIA to become one of the best teams in the world, and although the same probably won’t be said for Astralis due to the difference in overall firepower on the two teams, the ramifications for what it means for Denmark are far greater than they were for Brazil when FURIA made their moves.
The Nail in the Coffin
When FURIA made their changes, it was because they’d exhausted all other affordable options. Players like Felipe “insani” Yuji or Lucas “nqz” Soares were far too expensive due to the astronomical Brazilian buyouts, and any other player worth their salt in Brazil had already been through the team. The same can’t be said for Astralis.
In fact, there were multiple options for Astralis if they wanted to remain Danish. Nico “nicoodoz” Tamjidi is a serviceable AWPer with top-level experience, whilst Iulian “regali” Harjau is also fluent in Danish. In the rifling department, they could’ve kept Emil “Magisk” Reif or snatched up William “sirah” Kjaersgaard before 100 Thieves did. They could’ve even gone back in for Benjamin “blameF” Bremer – who is reportedly on his way to BIG – and admitted they were wrong for ever benching him in the first place.
The fact they didn’t is a daming indictment of how they view the Danish scene in 2026.
However, it’s also a decision that is hard to argue against, not because it hasn’t worked out well for FURIA. It’s hard to argue against because it’s clear to see that Denmark, just like France and Sweden before it, no longer has the talent to compete at the highest level where their biggest organizations hope to be.
How Astralis’ International Roster is Different
Just like Vitality, NIP, Fnatic, and FURIA, who all recycled national talent before changing their approach, Astralis have reached the ultimate conclusion of modern CS: going international is inevitable.
The difference is how they got there. In France, they just stopped producing talent. In Brazil, they followed the ways of Gabriel “FalleN” Toledo and Andrei “arT” Piovezan too much and created a dichotomy, and any players that broke that mold were locked behind big contracts.
And in Sweden, they held onto a golden generation for slightly too long, stifling the development of many who may have come after them.
For Denmark, they simply created a game they could no longer keep up with. Astralis revolutionized the way teams are set up and the way they utilize utility, while HEROIC changed CT sides to make them more proactive and willing to engage in gunfights. The result, after adaptation, was that players from other nations could just do it all better.
Whilst Danish players still focused on refining their perfect executes, other players realised that the perfect execute can still be stopped with a bullet to the head. The predictability and robotic nature of Danish CS that once made it so strong ultimately became its own downfall, and it’s why Astralis have now had to go international if they ever hope to lift a trophy again.