The heartbreaking story of Bubzkji - benched before his first Major
Yesterday, Wednesday, Astralis announced their lineup for the Major in Stockholm. Besides the experienced four, they relied on the young, new main AWP Philip "Lucky" Ewald, who joined the team about three months ago. With Andreas "Xyp9x" Højsleth and Peter "dupreeh" Rasmussen, Astralis has two of the five players in the line-up who have participated in every CS:GO Major so far. The other three were her former teammate Nicolai "dev1ce" Reedtz, Olof "olofmeister" Kajbjer Gustafsson and Richard "shox" Papillon.
Furthermore, Lukas "gla1ve" Rossander returns to the team after his private break. The star ensemble is completed by Emil "Magisk" Reif. But what about Bubzkji?
Bubzkji - Biography
Lucas "Bubzkji" Andersen is a currently 23-year-old CS:GO pro who began his career in 2015. On his way to the top of the world, the Dane played together with HUNDEN and b0RUP, among others, on an organisationless team, before switching to Fragsters, where he would play in a team with refrezh shortly afterwards. On 10.12.2018 he participated in his first S-tier tournament under the Fragsters banner. About a year later, however, Bubzkji moved on to Tricked Esport, arguably his first truly big-name organisation.
Through them he made the breakthrough and was signed by MAD Lions on 13.12.2019. Together with the Danish lineup consisting of acoR, sjuush, roeJ and AcilioN he won the Flashpoint 1 and thus 500,000 USD in prize money. His first really big tournament success, even though the event was still largely designed for the Tier 2 scene at the time. His great performances did not go unnoticed and on 31.07.2020 Lucas was signed by Astralis.
Through them he made the breakthrough and was signed by MAD Lions on 13.12.2019. Together with the Danish lineup consisting of acoR, sjuush, roeJ and AcilioN he won the Flashpoint 1 and thus 500,000 USD in prize money. His first really big tournament success, even though the event was still largely designed for the Tier 2 scene at the time. His great performances did not go unnoticed and on 31.07.2020 Lucas was signed by Astralis.
The year 2021 for Astralis
A short overview at the beginning. Astralis played twelve tournaments in 2021, none of which the Danish top team won and achieved their best result at the BLAST Premier: Global Final at the end of January. However, they still qualified for the Major in a relatively clear fashion in fourth place.
The gap to the third G2 was around 1000 points, which was mainly due to the numerous line-up changes. More on that in a moment! A total of seven players were in action throughout the twelve tournaments, which we rank according to the number of times they played:
- dupreeh (12)
- Magisk (12)
- Xyp9x (11)
- gla1ve (10)
- Bubzkji (7)
- Lucky (3)
- device (5) - switch to NiP end of April
What is interesting here is that device played the first five tournaments until the end of April, after which Bubzkji joined the team in his place and played every event until the end of IEM Fall and thus the last tournament in the fight for the Major places. At the beginning of August, Astralis decided to sign Lucky, a Danish youngster from Tricked Esport. He is expected to fill the role of the main AWP.
First Philip filled in for Xyp9x for one event and later played two more in place of gla1ve, who wanted to spend the last weeks before the birth of his first child with his girlfriend. Besides dupreeh and Magisk, however, one fixpoint always remained: Bubzkji. The 23-year-old Rifler adapted to the different lineups and took the chance to prove himself after a long time on the bench. Together with his teammates, he and Astralis managed to qualify for the Major.
The gap to the third G2 was around 1000 points, which was mainly due to the numerous line-up changes. More on that in a moment! A total of seven players were in action throughout the twelve tournaments, which we rank according to the number of times they played:
- dupreeh (12)
- Magisk (12)
- Xyp9x (11)
- gla1ve (10)
- Bubzkji (7)
- Lucky (3)
- device (5) - switch to NiP end of April
What is interesting here is that device played the first five tournaments until the end of April, after which Bubzkji joined the team in his place and played every event until the end of IEM Fall and thus the last tournament in the fight for the Major places. At the beginning of August, Astralis decided to sign Lucky, a Danish youngster from Tricked Esport. He is expected to fill the role of the main AWP.
First Philip filled in for Xyp9x for one event and later played two more in place of gla1ve, who wanted to spend the last weeks before the birth of his first child with his girlfriend. Besides dupreeh and Magisk, however, one fixpoint always remained: Bubzkji. The 23-year-old Rifler adapted to the different lineups and took the chance to prove himself after a long time on the bench. Together with his teammates, he and Astralis managed to qualify for the Major.
The huge problem with six-man roasters.
All in all, we can summarise that the year 2021 went well despite changes, breaks and a new signing. The biggest goal, qualifying for the Major, was achieved and fourth places at the last four events show that the team has absolutely kept up with the world's best. At the end of 2021, however, there is one very big loser: Bubzkji. After being "a true professional regardless of the circumstances and always giving his best on and off the server" (quote Kasper Hvidt, Director of Sports Astralis), he will be sidelined due to Valve's transfer rule.
Astralis announced yesterday in a press release that they decided to leave Lucas "Bubzkji" Andersen out of the upcoming Major. Given the team roles and experience probably an understandable, but still an incredibly bitter decision for the young Dane, who could have participated in his first Major event.
Astralis announced yesterday in a press release that they decided to leave Lucas "Bubzkji" Andersen out of the upcoming Major. Given the team roles and experience probably an understandable, but still an incredibly bitter decision for the young Dane, who could have participated in his first Major event.
Major-Preview
Even though the decision for Bubzkji may seem harsh and perhaps a little unfair, Kasper Hvidt explained in a statement that he had hours of discussions with coach Danny "zonic" Sørensen and Lucas and that he was convinced that they had nominated the best possible line-up for the Major. However, the tweets above show how disappointed Bubzkji is about the decision and rightly so.
For us viewers, it remains to be seen what gla1ve has come up with, especially with regard to the new utility update. Knowing Lukas, he will have prepared his team perfectly together with Danny and will have thought of some tricks and new strategies. Even though the last few months have not always been ideal for the Danish defending champions, the latest update could well play into their hands.
With four Major victories, three of which were in a row, Astralis is once again one of the absolute title favourites in Stockholm. For some of the line-up, it will be a kind of farewell tournament. Might they give each other another title defence as a farewell gift? Was it fair to take Bubzkji out of the line-up after the successful qualification? What do you think - feel free to write us your opinion on Twitter in the comments.
For us viewers, it remains to be seen what gla1ve has come up with, especially with regard to the new utility update. Knowing Lukas, he will have prepared his team perfectly together with Danny and will have thought of some tricks and new strategies. Even though the last few months have not always been ideal for the Danish defending champions, the latest update could well play into their hands.
With four Major victories, three of which were in a row, Astralis is once again one of the absolute title favourites in Stockholm. For some of the line-up, it will be a kind of farewell tournament. Might they give each other another title defence as a farewell gift? Was it fair to take Bubzkji out of the line-up after the successful qualification? What do you think - feel free to write us your opinion on Twitter in the comments.
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